


Tutoring the Untutorable

by ectofruitloop (melodyguardian)



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: F/M, Gen, sex references I guess but it's not excessive, there's swearing too but that's not excessive either
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 43,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25040752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodyguardian/pseuds/ectofruitloop
Summary: When Jazz signed up to tutor local bully Dash Baxter, she thought the worst that would happen was him not showing up to sessions or not taking her seriously. What she didn't expect was for it to set off a series of events that would spiral her carefully controlled life out of her control.After an accident that leaves her unsure about whether she's alive or dead, Jazz must learn to adjust to all these new supernatural changes and what it means for her future. Thankfully, she doesn't have to face all of it alone, but, being caught in between the worlds of the dead and the living, is it really so simple to tell who to trust?Either way, Jazz is sure about one thing- nothing, not even a near-death experience, is going to deter her from becoming a damn good therapist.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton, Dash Baxter/Jazz Fenton, Jazz Fenton & Vlad Masters
Comments: 21
Kudos: 33





	1. Tutoring the Untutorable

**Author's Note:**

> New fic! Let's goooooo! I've been working on this thing for so many months, so I'm really excited to show everyone! It's my first original AU! I'm sure there a lot of takes on 'Jazz becomes a halfa', but I didn't want to look any up before writing this. I really wanted to put my own spin on the idea. Please let me know what you think and comments are greatly appreciated! Each chapter is going to be loosely based on a real DP episode, so if you've got a favourite episode that you'd like me to give the Tutoring The Untutorable treatment, please let me know! Now, onto the fic!

“Thanks for coming over, Dash.” Jazz smiled politely as she opened the door. “I have a good feeling about today!”

The quarterback rolled his eyes and pushed his way inside. “Alright, let’s get this over with. I don’t wanna spend more time with any of you loser Fentons than I need to.”

Jazz frowned and crossed her arms. “Hey, I don’t _have_ to tutor you, you know. There are a _lot_ of untutorable people at our school.” Her frown deepened. “Wow. I’ve never said that out loud before. Clearly, our school system has failed us.”

“Just show us where we’re _doing_ this, dweeb. I’ve got places to be.” He looked around. “Uh…why is everything covered in…green stuff?”

“My parents. A thing exploded. It’s honestly best you don’t ask.” She walked into the kitchen. The table, which, thankfully, was devoid of ectoplasm, had already been prepared for this session. A laptop was open in the middle of it and around it was a small pile of books. “Let’s get started, shall we?” She clapped her hands together. She really enjoyed tutoring, and this was going to be _great_ research for her thesis!

Dash followed her inside and sat himself down on one of the two chairs. “What class was this for, again? Geography?”

“Math!” She sat herself down on the only other chair and shoved a book into his chest. “You don’t even know what we’re _studying_?”

“I’m only doing this ‘cause Coach suggested it.” He picked the book up and studied the cover, frowning. “Wait, this isn’t math! This says…” He squinted. “Aleg..alge…alge-BRA…? _Bra_? What the heck _is_ this? _Math porn_?” He pulled a face. “I think you gave me the wrong book.”

Jazz stared at him flatly. “Algebra is a _type_ of math, Einstein.”

“Well _I’ve_ never heard of it.” He shrugged.

Jazz sighed. This was going to be a _long_ few hours.

\---

“Are you understanding so far?” 

“I…think so? I dunno, my head hurts.”

Jazz rubbed the bridge of her nose stressfully. “Okay, tell me what ‘x’ is.”

“It’s a number! But, like, in disguise. That’s why we don’t know what it is. That’s why we gotta work it out.” He nodded, a pleased smile on his face. 

Jazz sighed. Was he really congratulating himself on knowing the _bare minimum_? She forced a smile. He wouldn’t need tutoring if he was good at this. She had to be positive.

“Okay, good progress. I think we can take a break.”

After the ‘algebra’ misunderstanding, she’d had to go right down to the very basics of the maths. It meant that this tutoring job would take longer, but she didn’t mind if he actually learnt something and she could prove it in her thesis. Baby steps were still movement.

“Yesss!” He stood up and headed to the fridge. “You got any soda?”

“WAIT!” 

She stood up, but it was too late. As soon as the fridge was pulled open, a green blob with red eyes jumped out a began clawing at Dash’s face.

“AAAAUGHHH! WHAT THE-THE-“ He made a choked up noise at the blob punched him in the throat.

“Do you ALWAYS make yourself at home in someone else’s house?!” She glared at the coughing footballer and grabbed the blob, flinging it across the room. Dash stared, wide eyed.

“What the hell IS that thing?!” he asked, rubbing his neck like it would somehow soothe his throat.

The creature growled and got up, ready to attack again.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO ASK!”

Thinking quickly, she grabbed a broom and intercepted the blob as it leapt at Dash. The broom made impact, causing a splattering of green goo over the floor and walls.

Jazz sighed and put the broom down. “So much for keeping the kitchen goo-free. Dash, make yourself useful and get the mop from the upstairs bathroom. I’ll try to save our revision stuff. If we’re lucky, it was far enough away of the blast radius.”

He crossed his arms. “Hey wait a minute! It was YOUR weirdo fa-“

“MOP,” she interrupted with a fiery glare. “NOW.”

He gulped, instinctively straightening up.

“R-right! I’ll be back!” He wasted no time in rushing up the stairs. 

Fenton’s sister was… _weird._ And kinda scary. What was her name again? Jazz? What gave _her_ the right to speak to _him_ like that?

He frowned and turned to look down the stairs at the tutor, fully prepared to tell her where she could shove it.

She was brushing away the slime with the broom from before, but as she moved past the table, he noticed something.

She’d left a can of coke out for him. 

\---

Jazz continued to tutor Dash over several weeks. The quarterback wasn’t the brightest bulb in the ghost portal, but, fortunately, he was a fairly fast learner and wasn’t incapable of picking up the material if Jazz was patient in her explanations. 

However, today, something was…different. Not only was Dash apparently unable to take in any new information, he didn’t even seem like he _cared_.

“Alright, so, the radius of the circle is the…” She trailed off as her gaze travelled to her brother’s bully. “Hey, can you at least look at the diagram?”

“Oh, what’s the point?” he huffed, leaning his cheek against his palm. “I’m never gonna understand this shit.”

“Hey.” She frowned, sitting up. “I know this can be disheartening, but you have to stick with it, okay? I know you can do it. You’ve already learnt so much since our first session. Come on, tell me what the area of a circle is.”

He abruptly stood up, his chair making a shrill shriek behind him.

“Don’t you get it? None of this MATTERS! None of this stuff is EVER gonna be useful! Like, oh, congrats, my guy, you passed ONE freaking test! GOOD JOB!” He smacked a book off of the table and glared at her.

Jazz stared at him for a moment. His lips were pressed into a thin line and his shoulders were tensed, but…there was no real rage on his face. Her eyes widened a fraction. He was lashing out, like Danny sometimes did. Something was bothering him, and she was willing to bet it wasn’t the revision. She slowly clasped her hands together. 

“Alright, how about we take a break? You seem…stressed.” She stood up and headed to the lounge.

He followed her grumpily, not really having any other choice. “I’m _not_ stressed!” he snapped, plopping himself down on the sofa. “Don’t act like you KNOW me! You don’t know _anything_ about me!”

“Well I know you care more about studying than you’re willing to admit you do,” she reasoned, sitting down next to him.

“You…” He blinked owlishly and then grabbed her by the front of her jumper. “Don’t act like we’re friends!” he snapped. “We’re not! And I’m not a _nerd,_ got it? _You’re_ a nerd! You’re a boring, weird, _loser_ Fenton and the only reason I come here every week is ‘cause I HAVE to! Don’t get it twisted!”

“…Are you done?” she asked flatly.

“…Huh?”

“With your whole…” She made a few vague hand gestures. “… _bullying façade_. It’s getting old, and, unlike my brother, I’m _really_ not afraid of you. Sorry to burst your bubble.” She shoved him so he’d instinctively let go of her, and then dusted herself off. “I won’t ask you to talk about what’s bothering you, but I _do_ ask that you calm down. I can’t teach you anything if you’re not feeling up to it.” She checked her watch. “We’ve still got an hour left. Wanna watch a movie or something? This can still count as one of your sessions if you like. I won’t tell the school if you won’t.”

He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “What, for real?”

She nodded and held the TV remote out for him. “Nothing is more important than mental health. If you’re not in the right mindset for studying right now, then that’s okay.” 

He frowned and took it from her. “It’s not a mental health thing. Shut up. Am I not allowed to have a _bad day_?”

“You are.” She placed her hands on her hips. “But grabbing me and insulting me is a little uncalled for, don’t you think?”

Dash huffed and tapped a random channel number. “Whatever. Why aren’t you scared of me? Everyone’s scared of me. It’s weird.”

She shrugged. “I think it’s because you don’t seem to be acting out of genuine anger. You just seem kind of down.” 

“Well I’m not, and you _should_ be scared. I’m not above punching girls if they _annoy_ me.”

She rolled her eyes and looked up at the TV. He’d stopped at the romance channel. “Oh, nice, is this the new episode?”

“Yeah, it’s gotta be,” he grumbled, annoyed she’d ignored his threat. “Clara’s wearin’ that dress Juan bought her last episode.”

“Oh, so she’ll go on a date with him, right?”

“Yeah, but she _really_ didn’t wanna-“ He froze suddenly, and dropped the remote like it had burnt him. “Wait, this isn’t what it looks like.”

“You watch _Heartbreak Paradise_ ,” she observed, grinning.

“N-no! Shut up! I DON’T!” He glared at her again.

“Yes you do, you watch the _romance_ channel!” She picked the remote up again and shuffled a little closer to him.

He huffed and snatched the remote from her hands. “That’s it, I’m finding something else.”

“Noooo!” She looked up at him pleadingly. “I won’t tell anyone! I promise! Come on, it’s a wholesome and sweet love story. You clearly need this.”

“…Fine, but if you tell anyone, I _will_ kill ya.” He scowled at her.

“Noted.” She continued to grin at him.

He rolled his eyes with much less aggression this time and turned the volume up.

_“Katie, you don’t understand! I know he’s cute, but he’s a playboy! He could never love me!”_

_“Girl, please! I know he’s done some bad stuff, but give him a chance! People change!”_

Dash scoffed softly. “No they don’t.”

Jazz tilted her head. “You don’t think people are capable of change?”

His eyes narrowed, though he didn’t take his gaze away from the TV. “No. They can pretend all they want, but an asshole is always gonna be an asshole. I think some people just pretend they’ve changed ‘cause they don’t wanna deal with what they did. Saying you’ve changed is like a free pass to doin’ whatever shit you want because you’re a ‘different person now’ or whatever. It’s all manipulative bullshit.”

“Well…” Jazz frowned in thought. “I’ll admit you aren’t _wrong_.”

He looked at her and raised his eyebrows. 

“Claiming you’ve changed is a popular method that manipulators use to avoid dealing with the consequences of their actions,” she elaborated, threading her fingers together. “That doesn’t mean it’s _always_ fake, but there are certainly people that abuse the kindness of others in that way to get out of trouble.”

“Yeah.” He frowned and shook his head. “It’s a total dick move. My…uh…” He hesitated and looked around in an effort to avoid her eyes. “Look, if I tell ya something, you gotta _promise_ not to say anything to anyone, okay? Ever.”

She smiled reassuringly and touched his arm. “I promise. I know we’re barely friends, but you can trust me.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever nerd.” He made an annoyed noise and shrugged her hand off of him. “My…look, okay, my dad is kinda…in jail.” He frowned and crossed his arms. “Don’t ask me why ‘cause I don’t wanna get into it. But today, I got a letter from him saying he’s a changed person now or some shit and wants me to visit. Says he’s been doin’ a lotta ‘soul-searching’ or somethin’. But he’s pulled stuff like that before. My mom forgives him, like, every single time and I’m just so SICK of it.” He balled his hands into shaking fists. “You can’t keep treating people like TRASH and then expect not to pay for it ‘cause you claim you’re a ‘better person’ now! It’s BULLSHIT!” He threw the remote onto the ground. There was carpet beneath their feet, so fortunately, the worst that happened to it was the battery compartment falling off.

Jazz nodded sympathetically and leaned down to pick up the remote again. “It is. You shouldn’t have to forgive someone that keeps manipulating your feelings like that. You deserve better. Words are just words. If he isn’t willing to actually try to make up for what he did, then he shouldn’t be rewarded for that."

“Yeah! Exactly!!! I-“ He sat up, his expression changing from anger to…something else. He stared at her. “You…don’t think I’m crazy,” he stated quietly.

“Well of course not,” she replied matter-of-factly. “If he’s done things like this before and you have reason to believe that’s what he’s doing this time too, then I trust your judgement. You shouldn’t have to keep dealing with his emotionally abusive behavio-“ 

She gasped.

He was _hugging_ her.

“D-Dash?!” She stared up at him, wide eyed.

“Literally…literally everyone I’ve talked to about my dad thinks I owe him a second chance,” he said, his voice still quiet. “My mom’s been breathing down my neck a lot about doing ‘the right thing’ and being ‘the better person’ and I just…” He exhaled. “Thanks. You don’t completely suck.”

She smiled and finally hugged him back. “Thank you. I know I’m just your tutor, but I’m always here if you want to talk, okay? I’m a really good listener.” She leaned a little more into him. “Also, you give… _amazing_ hugs, _wow_. Sorry, I know that’s unrelated. I’m just very surprised.” She shook her head. “But anyway, yes, if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m happy to be there to help if I can.” 

Smiling a little, he gave her one last squeeze and let go of her. “Careful, Fenton. I might take you up on that. You’re not…the _worst_ person to talk to. But tell anyone I said that, and I’ll break your legs.” He crossed his arms again, his smile turning into a little more of a smirk. “Also, wow, bold of you to assume I _don’t_ give great hugs. Rude and insulting.”

She grinned again and turned back to the TV. “Aww, hey, I think we missed the rest of the episode.”

He sat up again.

“What? But did she date the guy or not?”

“No idea.”

“Dammit!”

Jazz giggled. Maybe tutoring him wouldn’t be as unbearable as she’d first thought? 

\---

“Well this is bullshit,” Dash grumbled for the twelfth time that day.

“You can’t keep saying that every time you don’t understand something,” Jazz replied, her tone understanding, but amused.

“Sure I can.” He looked at her seriously. “ _This is bullshit_ , Jazz Fenton.”

She chuckled. “Look, I know math isn’t the easiest subject. It can take a while to get a hang of it at first. Even _I_ struggle with certain aspects of it. But you have to stick with it.”

He scoffed. “You don’t gotta lie to make me feel better. You don’t struggle with anything.”

“I do _too_!” She frowned a little. “Listen, Dash, nobody is good at anything _right away_. I bet you weren’t good at _football_ at first, right?”

“Nah, I was pretty much always good at it.” He flexed his muscles smugly.

She rolled her eyes. “Well, what I mean to say is, it’s completely fine if it’s taking a while for you to get comfortable with the material. It may seem like you’ll never learn all of this, but the way I see it, as long as you _want_ to learn it, then there’s hope.” She offered him an encouraging smile.

“But what if I _never_ get all this shit?” He ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe I’m just not smart enough for this.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think you’re smarter than you think.” Her smile grew warmer. “I believe in you. Please don’t give up.”

He stared at her for a little longer than he needed to, eyebrows raised, and then finally nodded.

“Okay. Um, can you explain how to do it again, then?”

“Sure!” She clapped her hands enthusiastically and started flipping through the textbook. “Okay, so do you see how the first example uses-“

The room suddenly quivered as a loud explosive noise erupted outside.

Dash stiffened. “Wh-what the hell was THAT?”

“My parents. That sound usually means they’re out there fighting more ‘ghosts’.” She rolled her eyes.

“Ya don’t believe in ghosts?” he asked curiously.

“I believe in _science_. What my parents do…isn’t science. They mostly just experiment with ectoplasm.”

“But doesn’t ectoplasm come from ghosts?”

“Well yeah, it does- supposedly.” She shrugged. “Anyway, come on, you should focus on the-“

“JAZZY-PANTS!”

Jazz groaned and rubbed her forehead. “Oh what _now_ …”

Jack grinned as he barged into the room. He was covered in some kind of green goo.

“ _Jazzy-pants_?” Dash smirked at her.

She groaned again and looked up, just as her mother was walking inside. She was carrying what appeared to be a cage.

“Mom, Dad, I told you we’re studying in--okay what is THAT?”

“It’s a GHOST!” Maddie replied excitedly, putting the cage down on the floor. “We’re taking it to the lab for further study.”

The ghost in question, a small green blob with red eyes, stubby green limbs, and a large, scowling mouth, crossed its’ arms and glared at all the humans.

“Woah…” Dash crouched down to stare at it. “I always thought real ghosts would be…way bigger.”

The ghost narrowed its’ eyes.

_“Just wait until I get out of here, human scum,”_ it hissed, its’ voice angry, but squeaky.

“Aughh! It talked!” He took a frightened step back.

“Yup, this one’s a reeeeal talker,” Jack replied. “We’re hopin’ it’ll tell us more about the Ghost Zone!”

“And if that doesn’t work, we can always rip apart its’ body to see how spectral biology works!” Maddie replied cheerfully. “Can you kids keep an eye on it while we prepare the lab?”

“Do we really have a choice?” Jazz asked flatly.

“NOPE!” Jack grinned. “Good luck! It was nice seein’ ya, Dash! Study hard and all that!”

“Uh…thanks?” The boy watched as the two adults excitedly trotted down the stairs. “That was weird.”

“Welcome to my life.” She sighed.

_“They call themselves hunters, but then leave me with two human children?”_ the ghost scoffed. _“Pathetic.”_

Jazz frowned. “Hey! They caught _you_ didn’t they?”

_“It was fluke and nothing more. They won’t be so lucky next time.”_ It crossed its’ arms.

“Next time?” Dash raised an eyebrow. “It sounds like they’re gonna rip you open or some shit.”

_“Stupid human. They’re clearly bluffing.”_

“They’re not.” Jazz bit her bottom lip, a concerned frown crossing her features. “I’ve seen their tools. They’re…really sharp.”

“Shit…” Dash muttered.

They both looked at the ghost again, and then at each other.

“I have to-“

“No. Don’t even think about it,” Dash replied, interrupting her thought process before she could finish it. “So _what_ if the talking blob is gonna get sliced like a pizza? It’s not your problem. It’s a _talking blob_. It probably don’t even feel pain.”

“But what if it _does_? Do you really want that blood on your hands?”

“I’m pretty sure you just told me ectoplasm was their thing...”

“ECTOPLASM then! _Whatever_!” She glared at him.

The quarterback sighed. “Honestly, Fenton, I don’t really care, but I don’t wanna be here if that thing claws your face off. I mean, do you _really_ think it’s just gonna _leave_ if you let it out?”

Her determined expression faltered. “I…look, I don’t know. But I have to believe there’s a chance that it won’t.”

“Or you could, you know, _not_ get your face clawed off…”

“I-”

She flinched as the sound of a buzzsaw groaned from the lab beneath their feet. She straightened up.

“Jazz. No.” He put his hands on her shoulders immediately. “C’mon, this is stupid, don’t-“

She shrugged off his hands and glared up at him.

“You listen here, Dash Baxter,” she snapped, her voice lowered to a stressful hiss. “You might not understand this because you hurt people for _fun_ , but I can’t just _sit here_ and _wait_ for them to rip this creature apart! It isn’t _right_!” She gestured to the cage again.

The creature in question had resigned itself to sitting against the bars, apparently not listening anymore. As Jazz approached, she realised with a frown that it seemed to have a dejected scowl on its’ face.

“Um, heeeeey…ghost,” she greeted awkwardly, crouching a little. “I’m not going to let them hurt you, okay?”

_“I don’t need your charity, human scum,”_ the ghost spat. _“I should mount you two on my wall.”_

“Um. Ew.” Dash pulled a face. “ _This_ is the guy you wanna set free?”

“Yes. Shut up, asshole.” She narrowed her eyes at him and turned back to the ghost.

Dash sighed and crossed his arms. “Look, if you’re really gonna go through with this insane plan, can you _at least_ grab a weapon?” He looked around and picked up a gun-looking object from the sofa. “This’ll do, right?”

“Fine. I’ll admit it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.” She carefully took the heavy device from him and pressed the barrel to the floor so she still had a free hand. She turned back to the ghost. “Okay, here’s the deal.” She tapped on the bars. “I’m a good person, so I’m going to let you go so my parents can’t hurt you. Once you’re free, I’m going to trust that you’ll go back to whatever afterlife you came from and not give us any trouble.”

“ _You give your trust too easily_ ,” the ghost replied with something that looked like a smirk.

“I’m choosing to take that as a yes.”

_“A foolish choice, really.”_

Dash frowned stressfully. “Jazz, listen to me, I really don’t-“

“Either help me or leave me alone, Baxter. We don’t have a lot of time.”

The bully grumbled something under his breath and put a hand on the latch keeping the cage closed. “On the count of three, then.”

She nodded seriously.

“One…two…THREE!”

As soon as the door was pulled open, the ghost stood up, a high-pitched cackle growing in its’ throat, and leaped for Dash’s face, its’ hands curved into claws

“Aaaaaughhhhhh!!!”

Jazz gasped and quickly held up the weapon.

“Well _WHADDAYA KNOW_!” Dash yelled sarcastically, swatting the green blob’s hands away from his face. “I WAS **RIGHT**!!!”

“SHUT UP AND **HOLD IT STILL!”** She yelled back stressfully. “WHAT ARE THOSE STUPID FOOTBALLER MUSCLES EVEN **FOR?!”**

“HE’S **SLIPPERY** OKAY?!”

The ghost sneered into the barrel of the bazooka and gave it a shove.

“Gah!” Jazz gasped, fumbling with the heavy weapon so she wouldn’t drop it, and the ghost took the opportunity to fly up to the ceiling, out of Dash’s reach.

“HEY! WE HAD A _DEAL_!”

_“Listen, I usually have no opinion on humans, but…honestly I really hate your family and I wouldn’t do a favour for any of you even if it was your dying wish,_ ” the ghost replied flatly, holding up its’ palms.

“That’s so RUDE!!!”

“So not the time, babe,” Dash replied, his voice just as flat.

“Call me ‘babe’ again, and I’ll show _you_ the other side of this gun next,” she replied, gaining a more comfortable hold on the gun.

The ghost snickered, its’ hands beginning to glow bright red.

Jazz stiffened. It was preparing to attack. She only had one shot at this.

Sticking her tongue out in concentration, she carefully positioned the bazooka and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened at first, and for a long moment, everyone and everything was silent.

…But then the weapon began to work.

_Too_ well.

All at once, green and purple ovals began appearing all around her, trapping Jazz in the centre. She turned around, trying to find a way out of the circle without accidentally falling into a portal, but there was one everywhere she looked. It felt uncomfortably like she were trapped in a house of mirrors.

She looked up. The ghost was gone. Had it used the portals as a distraction? Or maybe it had been sucked through one itself?

“JAZZ!” she heard a familiar voice shout from beyond her wall of portals. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!”

“I have no idea!!!”

“OKAY! UM! DON’T MOVE! I’LL GO GET YOUR PARENTS!”

Her heart immediately felt a spike of panic.

“NO! DON’T! My parents will KILL ME!” She looked down at the weapon, which was still in her hands. It was vibrating pretty violently, for whatever reason, and the ovals, filled with bright, swirling ectoplasm, were only getting bigger. “…if this doesn’t kill me first,” she whispered, clutching the device desperately like that would somehow make the portals disappear.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t.

And now the bazooka was getting very _very_ hot.

Time moved in slow motion as the portals grew bigger and bigger, and the device grew hotter and hotter. Before Jazz even had time to drop the gun, she felt something on the inside of it groan and snap, before it and all the nearby portals simultaneously set fire.

**_“AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”_ **

Her scream, shrill and filled with agony, cut through all sounds of the explosion that followed. Bits of metal flew everywhere and the portals, finally growing their full size, consumed the teenage girl on all sides, burning flames and melting ectoplasm clinging to her shaking body.

She shuddered and fell to her knees. She couldn’t breathe. Was she dying? Everything burned, but…she also felt so, _so_ freezing cold. She flexed her fingers. She wasn’t paralysed. That was…a good sign, she supposed. She still couldn’t breathe, though. Maybe it was because of all the smoke? She coughed and looked around, trying to find some area that wasn’t in flames, but all she could see through her tear-filled eyes was orange. The colour of flames, the colour of burning flesh, the colour of…

She rubbed her eyes, staring in disbelief at her reflection in the charring kitchen tiles.

The colour of her _eyes_?

Things were getting worse again. She had to get away from all this fire before her inability to breathe made her black out.

Taking a risk, she crawled on her hands and knees out of the flames and collapsed onto her stomach. Her lungs ached, but…nothing felt like it seriously hurt. Maybe she wouldn’t be dying today after all.

Oh thank god.

This was _not_ the way she was going to go, thank you very much.

“J… _JAZZ_?”

She groaned and looked up. “Wh…what?” she asked, her voice raspy.

He stared at her, wide eyed, and took a frightened step back. “Your...y-you…uh…”

“I know,” she replied, shifting herself up to sit. “The ghost got away. It was a jerk.” She held out her arms, checking her body over for burns. Everything hurt, but for some reason, she felt like she should have been in more pain than she actually was. She’d been at the heart of an explosion, after all. Shouldn’t she be seeing the light or something right about now? “I think I’m okay, by the way. I feel kind of strange, but I’m sure that’s…”

Her words caught in her mouth.

Her skin was _blue_.

Well, grey-blue, but when you’re literally staring death in the face, it’s hard to care much about specifics.

She stared down at her reflection, unblinking. There was no doubt about it. She was staring at a _ghost_.

“Am I…did I _die_?!” She touched her face. She didn’t _feel_ dead…?

She’d moved a hand up to run it through her hair, as was a typical habit of hers when she was stressed or worried, when she realised something else that was kind of important.

Her hair had been replaced by something _floating_.

She made an odd sound, like a held back scream, and yanked her hand away, using it instead as something to bite to keep the scream from letting out.

_What the hell what the hell what the hell what the-_

“Jazz, oh my g-god…” Dash whispered, his voice and body shaking. He exhaled sharply and took a few steps towards her. “I am _so_ sorry, oh my g- _god_ …”

**SHINGGGG! SHINGGGGG!**

Jazz recognised that sound. Her parents were sharpening their ghost knives. She made a frightened squeak and found her body feeling lighter.

Dash looked around, eyes wide with panic. “Jazz, w-WAIT! Don’t pass on yet! Don’t—” He exhaled again and squeezed his hands into quaking fists. “Please don’t go…”

What was he talking about? She looked down at herself. Oh, she’d turned invisible. It had happened so instinctively that she hadn’t even noticed. Weird.

She looked up at him again.

This big, tough, selfish footballer…he looked so _shaken_. She’d never seen him like this before. She supposed he _had_ just seen her…explode, though. It made sense he thought she was dead. Maybe she…was.

But there was so much she still hadn’t done, so much she still wanted to learn! She hadn’t even _graduated_ yet, much less fallen in love, made any _real_ friends, gotten _married_ …

“I…” She exhaled shakily and squeezed her eyes shut. “Please don’t freak out, okay? If you freak out, then _I’m_ gonna freak out and then I’m gonna…I’m g-gonna…” She sniffled and hugged herself. She was okay. She was okay. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be. There was no way she was going out like this, in a freak explosion caused by a ghost and one of her parents’ stupid ghost inventions!

What kind of parents WERE they anyway? Leaving two teenagers with a dangerous weapon just _laying around_? And an _actual_ ghost that could have hurt them or possessed them for all they knew? Even the _ghost_ thought they were being irresponsible! They hadn’t even supplied either of them with a weapon to defend themselves if the ghost got out while they were downstairs! How long did it even _take_ to polish weapons sharp enough to slice through a gho--

A sob escaped her lips.

She hugged herself, but it did little to make her feel better. Why was she so _hot_?

Oh. Right.

“Hey, help me put out all this fire,” she finally said, her voice so soft that it was barely audible. “My parents can’t know about this.”

“U-um…” Dash cleared his throat and looked to where he assumed she was. “Okay, I’ll…go get some water, I guess.”

\---

It was the next day, and…honestly, Jazz was exhausted. After she and Dash had doused all the fire, it wasn’t long before the portals disappeared, and her parents returned. Danny had come home too, and although her invisibility and weird ghost appearance had apparently worn off by then, he’d still seemed a little suspicious. Though maybe she was overthinking that. Ever since the explosion, it felt like _everyone_ was suspicious of her.

She’d had a few close calls of turning invisible randomly over breakfast and during class, but she’d done her best to keep her head down and stay quiet so nobody would pay attention to her. The most she’d really gotten were a few concerned whispers from the classmates that knew her as someone that _rarely_ avoided attention. Overall, she was doing a pretty good job of staying unnoticed by everyone.

…well, unnoticed by everyone except for _Dash_ that was.

She hadn’t been able to sleep that night, so she’d witnessed her phone vibrate exactly fifty-five times from 9pm to midnight. Most of them were text messages, probably due to how late it was, but she hadn’t read any of them. She was pretty sure she knew what they said anyway. He wanted to change tutors because this was too much crazy for him to handle. He wanted to rub a few ‘I told you so’s’ in her face because he’d predicted something like this would happen and it had. He wanted to call her a weird freak of nature and never see her again. Things like that probably.

Whatever relationship they’d had was clearly over, so she really didn’t see any point in reading all those messages and feeling even worse about herself, and she _really_ wasn’t interested in talking about any of this with _him_. She was aware Dash Baxter wasn’t as much of a walking bully stereotype as she’d previously thought, but he was still one of the popular kids, and one of the most overly privileged people at their school. She wouldn’t trust him with a sack of flour, much less her deepest darkest secrets. It was best just to leave him alone and hope he’d just forget about the ordeal.

Unfortunately, he had other plans.

It seemed as if, everywhere she turned today, he was always right there. He’d cut in next to her in the lunch line, he’d spotted her in the halls, regardless of what hall or entrance she took, he’d called her name when she’d gone back to Lancer’s class to get her bag…it really was getting ridiculous.

So, as she made her way towards the main entrance at the end of school, she was fully expecting him to show up again. It was only a matter of time. She had to be prepared. As she walked down the hall, she shifted the hood of her hoodie up to conceal her face and took a pair of sunglasses out of the pocket. He wouldn’t catch her this time. He wasn’t _that_ observant. She just had to make it through that door in front of her and she’d be free of his attention for the rest of the da-

“JAZZ!”

She made a frightened squeak as someone roughly pulled the sunglasses from her face.

“H-hey!” Caught off-guard, her body flashed from visibility for a couple of seconds. She angrily snatched the sunglasses back. “What do you WANT?!“

“For you to KNOCK IT OFF!” he snapped back. “Did I do somethin’ wrong? Why are you _avoiding_ me?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to _you_!” She looked up at him defiantly. “Why won’t you just leave me _alone_?!”

“Because I CAN’T!” He replied, roughly grabbing her arm. “And you do NOT get to be mad at me right now! Do you have ANY idea how much I-“ He made an angry noise and shook his head. “Look. Whatever. We’re finally gonna talk about this. You’re not ignorin’ me anymore. I’m through with this.” He started towards the door, his grip still firm on her arm.

“No, we’re _not_.” She tried to pull herself away from him, but his grip was too strong. “What happened to me has _nothing_ to do with you, okay?”

“You don’t get to decide that.” He huffed. He wasn’t even looking at her anymore, his eyes fixed on the door in front of them. “Even if I _hadn’t_ been right there when it happened, do you _really_ think I’d just shrug it all off and leave you to deal with all this shit _by yourself? Jesus Christ_ , your opinion of me is low. I _bully your brother_ , not _kill puppies_.”

“You bullying my brother is _exactly_ why I don’t want to talk about this with you!” She tried again to pull his arm away. “Get OFF me, asshole!”

“No,” he replied firmly, pushing his way through the door. “If I let you go, you’ll just run away again and then I’ll have to go look for you. _Again_.” He shook his head. “We’re _doing this_ , Fenton, whether you wanna or _not_!”

“No!” She glared, her eyes flashing bright orange. “Why SHOULD I? We’re not even FRIENDS!”

He turned to look at her and tensed. There were those glowing eyes again. Those same eyes that had peered up at him that day, filled with so much panic and fear…

“…Okay, look,” he began, his voice eerily calm as he led her into the empty school parking lot. “If I’m bein’ honest, and I _really_ don’t mean ta be insensitive here, but-“ His grip on her arm tightened and his glare softened into something else- something more akin to desperation. “-I don’t _GIVE A SHIT!”_

Jazz’s breath hitched in alarm.

“I thought you _DIED_ , Jazz!” he continued, his hands shaking now. “There was fire EVERYWHERE! You should have DIED and--”

He finally noticed the way she was looking at him and took a step back, almost guiltily.

“Jazz,” he tried again, quieter. “When I saw you in that explosion, it was…I mean you really could have…I mean I don’t really understand how you _couldn’t_ have…”

Her expression hardened and she gave his shoulder a rough shove.

“Stop talking,” she said, her tone emotionless. “Just…just _stop_.”

“B-but you’re acting like nothing even-“

**“I’M _NOT DEAD!!!_ _STOP_ IT!!!”**

The football player flinched, the sound of her outburst louder than either of them had expected. He opened his mouth to reply, but noticed something that caused him to abruptly close it again.

There were small tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I’m not DEAD, okay?!” she repeated, her shoulders arched and her eyes flashing from bright orange to teal blue in rapid succession. “I’m NORMAL! Everything is FINE! I-I’m still _me_! _Nothing’s_ changed! I’m _still_ Jazz Fenton and I’m _still_ going to graduate this high school and get into Yale! I did NOT die in that-that… _g-goo-covered kitchen_ and…” She exhaled shakily. “And I did NOT turn into a…a g- _ghost_!” The tears were staring to drip faster now, but it didn’t seem like she noticed. She looked up at him, her expression firm, but wide eyed. “I’m human and I’m normal and nothing can change that. Nothing. Yesterday was just an…unfortunate accident. But it’s fine now. I’m fine now. _Everything is fine now_.”

Dash held back a shudder. There was unhealthy and then there was… _this_.

“Jazz, c’mon, you _know_ that’s not true,” he persisted. “That explosion, it…it _did_ something to you! You can’t just ignore your problems like they’re just gonna go away _!_ “

“I’m not _ignoring_ them! I’m COPING!” She was trying to stay strong, but her voice, as well as her own hands, were starting to quiver. “I-I’m not trying to pretend _nothing happened_! I’m just trying to…to move on DESPITE it! Do you think I WANTED this?! To be…THIS?” She gestured at herself and began flickering as if on cue.

She balled her hands into stiff fists. She didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t want to relive that accident. She didn’t want to think about all the implications. Why couldn’t he just _let it go_ and leave her _alone_? She let out a long quivering sigh and hugged herself.

“I’m just…I’m just trying not to _break down_ , okay?” She hung her head exhaustedly and pinned her gaze to the tarmac below them. “Every time I think about that accident, every time I r-remember how… _hot_ those flames were, every time I feel that h-horrible _pit_ in my stomach like my powers are going to…t-to…” She squeezed her eyes shut tight. “Every time I think about that horrible day…the…the powers _malfunction_. And i-it’s… _destructive_.” A sob escaped her lips. She swallowed hard and took a step towards him. “I just don’t want to h- _hurt_ anyone…”

He stared at her. The drastic change of screaming to what was really almost a whisper, was jarring to say the least. He never was good with his words, and…this emotional whiplash wasn’t really helping.

He watched her start to sink through the floor. He had to say something. Or do something. Or she’d probably have more of those power malfunctions she’d just talked about. Ignoring his own safety for the moment, he stepped forward and pulled her into a tight, but protective hug.

She stiffened. “Wh-what are you…?”

“You said you liked my hugs, so…you’re gettin’ a hug,” he told her seriously. “Look, I don’t _care_ if we’re not friends or you hate me or whatever. You helped me when I needed ta talk about my dad, so…I wanna return the favour. What happened yesterday was…well it was _insane_ and _terrifying_ and…”

“…b-bullshit?” she supplied softly, looking up at him, her eyes fading back to blue.

“Right.” He sighed and closed his eyes. God he was exhausted. “Avoid me all you want, but I’m just gonna keep comin’ back, whether you want me to or not. You’re not gonna deal with all this shit alone if I can help it.” He hugged her tighter. “Quit pushing me away, ‘kay? I’m all you got right now. Let me at least help ya figure out those powers.”

“I don’t know why you even _care_ ,” she sniffled, burying her face in his chest. “You were _happy_ to let that ghost die _-_ or whatever the ghost equivalent of that is. So why am _I_ any different? _I’m_ one of those things _too_ now, right? I’m a freaky girl with f- _freaky_ powers! Why don’t you want to be as _far_ from me as p-possi-“ She cut herself off as her chest started to ache, wracked with sobs.

“Because you’re not some jerk blob with legs,” he explained, smiling a little, despite the crying girl in his arms. “You’re…okay, don’t tell anyone or it’ll totally ruin my rep, but…” He ran a hand through her hair. He’d seen her do it to herself enough times at this point to know that it usually calmed her down. “I didn’t care about the ghost because he was a total dick and also I’m not totally sure how ‘killing’ a ghost even works, but…you’re alright, Fenton. Ya don’t like me that much, but you’d never attack me on purpose. Or _anyone_ probably. You’re too lame for that.”

“Hey…” she mumbled, leaning a little more into him. “You’re lucky I’m so tired, or I’d give you the best insult ever.”

“Ah, yeah, you should go home. C’mon, I’ll drive.” He let go of her and headed to his car.

“Oh, are you sure?” She rubbed her eyes and followed. “I don’t want to inconvenience you. My house isn’t too far. I’m sure I can walk it. I walked the way here after all. And I’m sure you’re really busy! You’ve probably got more football practice, and to add to that, you’ve got all that homework I gave you and…” She trailed off. “…What?”

“…Shut up and get in the car, Fenton.” He rolled his eyes.

“Um, okay.” Blushing with embarrassment, she opened the door to the passenger’s seat and sat down. “Uh, just to confirm…you don’t have anything flammable in here, do you?”

“What?” He shut his own door and started the engine. “I don’t think so? Why?”

“Because I kind of…set all my pillows on fire last night after you left. By accident. It’s a thing I do now, apparently.”

“Oh.” He made an amused sound. “This is gonna be _so weird_.”

“What will?” She crossed her arms self-consciously.

“Seein’ the perfect princess destroy shit on the reg with _literal_ fire. You gonna burn my homework if it ain’t good enough, fire princess?” He looked behind him so he could see where he was going as he reversed out of the parking lot.

“ _Don’t_ call me that!”

“Jeez, you’re no fun.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just not sure I like you very much.”

“Okay okay, whatever.” He rolled his eyes again and started to drive. “I’m just glad you’re finally talkin’ to me. You’re really annoyin’ when you wanna be.”

Her cheeks flushing again, she got out her phone. She had a missed call from Danny, but that wasn’t a big deal. She was going to see him soon anyway. She glanced at the jock for a moment. He was focussing on the road, but his head was bobbing along gently to the song that had started on the radio. She couldn’t believe this was the same guy that had more or less been obsessing over her since the accident. He was _Dash Baxter_. He didn’t usually seem to care that much about anyone, especially not someone like her, but he really did seem genuine about wanting to help her. What had his texts been about then, if they weren’t all ‘I told you so’s’ and threats to out her secret? What could he possibly have had to say that would require that many messages?

Curiosity winning out, she finally selected Dash’s contact and scrolled through some of the most recent messages.

_Hey so that was weird. U sure ur ok?_

_Hey can u call me? Just tell me ur ok._

_Jazz im serious that really freaked me out I need to know if ur ok_

_Jazz if I come to school tomorrow n you’re fckin dead I swear to god_

_Ok if ur not dead then prepare to be tomorrow if u don’t fckin answer me_

_Im sorry for the threat im just very scared rn ok u literally exploded_

_How does a person survive something like that???_

_I googled it and now im extra freaked_

_Plz tell me u had a doctor look at u_

_If that ghost comes back I swear to god ill make him wish he could die again if what happened ended up actually hurting you_

_I mean u didn’t look hurt but like_

_I will break that slimy bastards face_

_Jazz…_

_Please send me a gif or emoji or smth_

_I cant take this_

_I dont wanna go to school tomorrow and find out u_

_died in your sleep or smth._

_Ur a good person u know_

_Im not the best judge of people but I know that’s true_

_If youre gone idk what id do_

_You can tell me if youre stuck with blue skin again. Im not scared, even if ur a ghost._

He apparently stopped replying for a bit. When he returned, he’d sent one final message before apparently giving up or falling asleep. It was very early in the morning at that point, to be fair.

_I know ur scared but I am too. We’ll get thru this together. I promise. Ive got makeup for the blue skin if u wanna try hidin it or I can try tellin your parents what happened if u want. Ill tell them it was my fault. They dont have to know it was u that opened the cage. Just plz just reply so I know ur ok. I really hate this. This could be the last thing I ever say to u and ive have no idea. Plz dont die on me jaasdfghjkl;’#_

Well, if he hadn’t fallen asleep before, he definitely had then.

She looked up at him. Now that she was really looking, she realised he had dark circles underneath his eyes. He clearly hadn’t slept much. That…was maybe her fault. She really should have read those messages. They weren’t anything like she thought they’d be.

“Hey, if you’ve got somethin’ to say, just say it,” he said, turning down the radio. “I prefer the yelling to the silent judgement.”

“I…” She hesitated and then slowly placed her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry for not letting you know I was okay. I didn’t realise you cared so much.”

“Well I don’t.” He huffed. “But if you die, I’m stuck with no tutor, so…it’s annoying.”

“Okay, Dash.” She shifted to lean up against him- the safest way to hug him without compromising his ability to drive.

He raised his eyebrows and glanced down at her.

“Um…Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m starting to think that maybe…you’re a good person too," she said after a pause. "You don’t like to show it, but I think you’ve got a big heart. I think I’d love it if you could help me with my powers.”

A small smile made its’ way onto his face.

“Ugh, that’s so cheesy and lame." He shook his head. "But...good. I’m glad I get to help.” His cheeks flushed slightly. “Now sit up already. You’re distracting me from the road.”

“Right. Sorry.” She checked the time on her phone. “Hey, if we’re fast, we can probably make it in time for _Heartbreak Paradise_.”

“Oh _hell yeah!_ ”


	2. One of a Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Jazz has ghost powers now! Now all's left to do is master them before any of her family, especially her nosy little brother, finds out! Piece of ecto-cake, right? But who's this ghost boy standing in their kitchen, and why does he seem so familiar?

All was quiet that cold night in Amity Park. Most were asleep, even Maddie and Jack Fenton, who often stayed up late working on inventions. A chilled breeze floated around the giant building that was FentonWorks, gently blowing everything it touched. Overall, it was a calm night.

So why was Danny having such a hard time sleeping?

He sighed, frustrated, and tossed an arm over his forehead. It was because he was thinking about Jazz again, wasn’t it? He…weirdly really missed her. Could you miss someone that lived with you? It had only been a few days since the kitchen had apparently exploded, but Jazz was being surprisingly tight-lipped about the whole thing. She wasn’t the kind of person to keep her feelings bottled up- Danny distinctly remembered her rambling some psychobabble to him at some point about how doing that was unhealthy. Since when did Jazz ignore what her precious psychology books had taught her? Why was she acting so cold and closed off? What _happened_ the day the kitchen exploded?

He’d tried to talk to her, of course, but every time, she would make up an obvious lie about being too busy to talk to him. She’d even turned him away when he’d pretended he had a problem he wanted to talk to her about. Jazz was _never_ too busy for him. Ever. She would always find time talk to him, even if it was just for a few minutes. She always wanted to make sure he was okay. It usually really annoyed him.

Usually.

Lately, it really seemed like she was avoiding everyone, him especially. She hadn’t even shown up for dinner these past few days. He’d tried bringing food up to her room in case she’d just forgotten or fell asleep or something, but she’d just yelled at him. She was doing…a lot of yelling at him lately.

He sighed again and ran a hand down his face. His sister wasn’t okay, and for the first time, it was up to _him_ to do something about it. Maybe he should-

**Smash!**

He gasped and sat up. That sounded like glass. Had someone tried to break in through the window? Or was this a ghost’s doing? He frowned and quickly got out of bed.

_“Going ghost!”_

He phased through the floor and sunk to the kitchen, where he was sure he’d heard the sound come from.

He looked around. All the windows seemed to be intact. That was strange. What else was made of glass around here?

“Oh c-come on…” a voice muttered, brushing some pieces of glass into a dustpan. “I can’t even h-have a stupid _glass of water_? You w-won’t even let me have _that_?”

Danny stared at the speaker with disbelief. It was Jazz, but…he’d never seen her look so _dishevelled_ before. Her pyjamas were on backwards, her hair looked like a bird’s nest, her eyes were red and puffy and…

…who the heck was she talking to?

She stood up, the moonlight from the windows highlighting her dark, almost bruise-like under eyes.

“All I want is a _god damn glass of water_ ,” she complained, looking up at the ceiling for some reason. “Is that _really_ so much to ask, universe? I’m a good person. I don’t ask for much. Why are you depriving me of a _basic_ human right?!”

“Um…” Danny cleared his throat. “Everything okay, Jazz?”

She gasped, nearly jumping off the floor in her surprise, and turned to look at him.

“Oh my god.”

“What?” Danny raised an eyebrow. “It’s just m-“ He paused. He hadn’t transformed back yet, had he?

Nice going, Fenton.

He laughed nervously.

“Ah, um, hi, I’m…the ghost that…haunts your house?”

“Y-you’re WHAT?!” She took a startled step back.

Oof, wrong choice of backstory.

He held up his hands defensively. “It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you. I promise.” He smiled slightly. “I’m one of the good ghosts.”

She stared at him, unblinking.

“…you’re a _ghost_.”

“Yup.”

“Great.” She sighed. “Just great. Just what I need. _More_ ghosts. Sure. _Whyyyy not_?” She rubbed her forehead stressfully. “What are the chances you’ll leave on your own if I ask nicely? If I have to deal with _another_ ghost, I will _literally_ kill myself.”

His eyes widened. “Woah, you shouldn’t joke about that. Weren’t you in an explosion or something in here a couple days ago?”

“Th-that’s none of your business!” she snapped. “What kind of ghost haunts the house of _ghosthunters_ anyway?!”

He rolled his eyes. “What are you even doing in here? Isn’t it, like, 3am?” He floated off the ground leisurely.

“Sleeping doesn’t come as easily to me as it used to,” she replied vaguely, dropping the smashed glass carefully into the bin. “I came down for a glass of water, but…being tired makes me clumsy I guess.” She fell silent, staring at the empty dustpan for a moment. She shook her head and put it down. “Look, I’m a nice person, nicer than I really should be, but if someone else wakes up and sees you here, you can bet they’ll be in here, ghost guns blazing. I’d leave soon if I were you.”

Danny floated over to the sink and picked up another glass. “I’m not too worried about that. I’ve handled my fair share of ghost guns,” he replied honestly, filling the glass with water and holding it out for her. “Here. A peace offering. I’m not here to cause trouble. I promise. I just wanna talk.”

Was this his chance to find out what had really happened? To find out if she was okay?

If she wouldn’t talk to Fenton, would she maybe talk to Phantom instead? It was worth a try. Less likely things had happened.

She looked at the glass, and then him, warily. “Why? What could you _possibly_ have to talk to me about?”

He shrugged. “Ghosts get lonely too. Humour me for a bit.”

After a pause, she took the glass and finally took a sip.

“You really thought I’d poisoned it or something?” he asked, his voice a mixture of incredulous and amused. “ _In front of you_?”

“No, I just…I don’t know. I’ve been tricked by ghosts before. I paid the price.” She gulped more of the water down and closed her eyes.

Wait, what? She met ANOTHER ghost?

“What ghosts? _What_ price?” Had a ghost done something to her? Is that what was going on with her? Was the explosion ghost-related and that was why she wouldn’t talk about it?

“Oh don’t act like you don’t know. You haunt this place. You probably saw it happen.”

“Saw _what_ happen?” he leaned towards her urgently. “What _happened_ to you?”

“What…happened? Are you serious?” Her grip tightened on the glass. “I’m sorry, did you think the _literal_ _explosion_ gave me _a bit of a tan_?” She glared at him. “It-” She paused. “Well okay, it _did_ , but that’s _not the point!”_ She looked down at the glass for a moment and her expression softened. She carefully placed it down onto the table. 

For a split second, Danny was convinced he saw her hand phase through the glass, but that couldn’t be possible, right? No. That was ridiculous.

He wanted to question her more on the explosion but thought better of it. Her anger seemed to be building again. He really didn’t want to push it. Besides, he wasn’t sure if he was emotionally prepared for another fight. He was tired too.

“I don’t think I officially introduced myself,” he said after a moment. “Most people call me ‘that ghost punk’, but my actual name is Phantom.”

“Your name is…Phantom?” she asked, anger giving way to confusion, and maybe a little curiosity. “Isn’t that a bit redundant? I don’t go around calling myself… _Human Fenton_.”

He made an amused sound. “Nope, you’re ‘Jazz’, right?”

She nodded. “Jasmine Willow Fenton. Most people prefer to call me Jazz.”

“Well, I’m Danny Fe- uh, Phantom. Phantom. Danny Phantom. Most people prefer to call me Phantom.” He shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. He knew he was tired, but he really had to be more careful. Jeez. He pulled up a chair and sat down. “C’mon, if you’re not gonna go to bed, at least keep me company.”

She frowned. The ghost didn’t… _look_ like a threat. Though, neither had the little blob she’d freed before.

This ghost, though…there was something different about him. He wasn’t like that blob creature. He looked…like a human being. Well, like a human being that glowed and had a voice that echoed. He looked like he couldn’t have been any older than fifteen. Maybe he really did just want company. He _had_ said he was ‘one of the good ones’…whatever that meant.

“…fine,” she said finally. “But if you try anything funny, I won’t hesitate to defend myself.”

“Noted.” He didn’t even have to fake the small smile making its’ way onto his face. “I’m sorry the one ghost you met was an asshole.”

“I’m sorry about that too,” she grumbled, slowly sitting down in the chair next to him. “No offence, but I’m so _sick_ of ghosts.”

“Oh, no, same.” He laughed. “I’m what you’d call a superhero. I fight the ghosts that are causing trouble and I capture ‘em in this thing.” He pat the Fenton Thermos attached to his belt. “I know it’s the right thing to do, but it’s frustrating when I’m just tryna live my life and a ghost shows up to take over the world or whatever, you know? Just _once_ , I’d like _one_ Friday night where I can spend it doing something _fun_.” He paused. “I mean, yeah, okay, beating up evil ghosts _is_ fun, but it’s a lot of pressure. I don’t want innocent people to get hurt because I got distracted playing a videogame.”

“Well I mean…nobody ever said doing the right thing was easy.” She picked the glass up idly, looking down at her reflection in the glass. “But try not to be too hard on yourself. You’re allowed to enjoy yourself sometimes.” She looked up at him again. “You’re doing good. It’s enough that you’re trying.”

His eyes began to blur. God dammit, Jazz.

“I…” He cleared his throat. “I…needed to hear that. Thank you.”

“Anytime.” She offered him her own small smile. “Hey, has anyone ever told you you’re kind of…” She trailed off with a shake of her head. “You know what, never mind.”

“Hey, what is it?” He leaned his chin on his hand.

“Oh, nothing, it’s just, you’re more…” She made a few awkward hand gestures. “… _human_ than the other ghost was. Sorry. I’m not sure if that’s…ghost racist or something.”

“G- _ghost racist_?” He cracked up. “Jazz. Oh my god.”

She wanted to be angry again, but she couldn’t shake the smile that was crawling onto her face.

“Hey! _I_ don’t know how ghost culture works!”

“Clearly.”

She laughed and shoved his arm, but as soon as her hand made contact with him, she jolted like she’d just been shocked.

“Oh! Woah!” She put her hand on her heart. “You’re so _cold_.”

He stared at her for a moment. Was she sure she’d met a ghost before?

“…Well _duh_.” He made an amused sound. “I’m kinda dead?”

Her cheeks flushed. “I know, but-look, I’ve never touched a ghost before! It surprised me!” She watched as the glow around him flickered like a candle flame in response to his shaking shoulders. Her expression softened again. She shifted her gaze to the table. “You…” She let some air out of her teeth.

“…yeah?” He took a risk and put a hand on her arm. She didn’t shake him off.

“H-how old were you when you…?” She didn’t look at him. It was almost like she didn’t trust herself to.

“When I…what? You’re gonna have to be more-“ His eyes widened. “Oh, you mean when I…?”

She nodded.

“Fourteen.” He lowered his gaze. “Freak accident. I got electrocuted, I think. I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure I blacked out when it happened.” He didn’t talk about the specifics of his accident a lot. He usually chose not to. He didn’t want to worry his friends about it, especially since they’d had a hand in making it happen. “When I woke up, I was on the floor and I had…glowing green eyes.” He offered her a shaky smirk. “But also I got super awesome superpowers, so that’s fun! Why do you ask?”

“I-I just…” She blinked away some tears. “You were so… _young_. I’m so sorry, Danny…”

His breath hitched. “Wh-what did you just call me?”

“…Danny?” She rubbed her eyes. “You said your name is ‘Danny Phantom’, right? I’m sorry, calling you Phantom just felt kind of weird…”

“O-oh. Right.” He smiled sadly. “You can call me Danny if you want. I don’t mind. And you really don’t have to feel bad for me. I’m fine. I’ve made peace with what happened.”

She scooted her chair closer to his and pulled him into a hug.

“That doesn’t mean it was fair.”

He stiffened. What was this, a trap? Did she have a Fenton weapon stored away somewhere? Was she making a grab for his thermos? He looked up at her.

Tears had started dripping down her cheeks. She had her eyes squeezed shut like she was in pain.

“Y-you should have…b-been able to live your life…”

Was this hug a way to comfort him, or a way to get comfort for herself?

Jazz never asked anyone for anything, but as he felt her trembling against him, he realised something. For whatever reason, she…related to his experience in some way. She was looking for comfort in someone she thought would understand, even if that someone happened to be a ghost.

She needed him.

He let himself sink into her embrace, hugging her back just as protectively.

“That accident really did a number on ya, huh?” he muttered into her hair.

She made a shaky noise of agreement and clung to him tighter.

He tightened his hold on her. He really wanted to tell her what he was. Maybe she’d feel better if she knew he wasn’t completely dead, if she knew her own brother had been through something like she had. But…it was risky. He couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t try to attack him out of panic or anger. Jazz was pretty unpredictable lately. She’d been cold to almost everyone since the accident, but here she was, finally opening her heart to him just a bit. He couldn’t risk losing that to a whim. He couldn’t lose her like that again.

Once her sobs had lessened to sniffles, she sat up and wiped her eyes against the backs of her hands.

“I’m sorry. I’ve…had a bit of a week.”

“Yeah. It’s okay.” He wiped his own eyes. When had _he_ started crying? “Can I…offer ya some advice? Ghost kid to human kid?”

“Well I’m not really a kid…” she muttered. “But sure.”

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He still couldn’t understand her obsession with growing up so quickly, but whatever. She was finally listening to him. He wasn’t going to waste that chance arguing with her over something else.

He looked her dead in the eyes, his own eyes firm, but pleading. “Stop…pushing everyone away, okay? You don’t have to tell them what happened, but…locking yourself up alone in your room? It’s only gonna make your nightmares…worse. Trust me, I know.”

Jazz stared at him.

She would have argued with him. She should have argued with him. Told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. But there was something in his expression, in the way he was clenching and unclenching his fists while he spoke, in the prolonged pauses in his words. It was almost like…he was anxious. If she snapped at him now, she got the uncomfortable feeling it would seriously break his trust in her, if he had any at all.

When she didn’t say anything, he continued, speaking a bit quicker, and with some forced enthusiasm.

“Also you’re makin’ everyone worried about ya! You’re not an invisible nobody like Danny is.” He smiled a little, like he’d just referenced an inside joke that Jazz knew nothing about. The smile didn’t last long. “People actually pay attention to you. Sooner or later, they’re gonna realise there’s something seriously wrong and then your parents are gonna go batshit with the whole supernatural conspiracy theories thing and you’re gonna fall apart ‘cause you pushed away everyone that coulda been there for you and-”

“ _Hey_! You wait just a minute!”

“Y-yes?!” He sat up instinctively, eyes wide. “Is there something you wanna-“

“How DARE you!” She stood up, glaring heatedly at him now. “Coming in here, thinking you can say whatever you want!”

“But-“

“I think you should LEAVE.” She slammed the glass on the table forcefully. “You’ve overstayed your welcome, _ghost_.”

“What? But I-“ He made an angry noise and floated off of the chair. “You know what? Fine! I’m DONE trying to help you! You’re so…so… _stubborn_! I don’t know why I bother. Forget this. I’m _done_!”

His body shimmered and he vanished from visibility.

Jazz stared at the place he’d been for a long moment and then sighed. She was too tired for this. She began to make her way back upstairs. Maybe she’d get lucky tonight and get a whole half an hour of sleep before the nightmares set in. That would be nice.

_Creeeeeeakkkkk…_

She flinched.

Stupid old floorboards. The last thing she wanted was to wake anyone up. What if they saw Phantom and freaked out? Or worse, what if they saw that she was up and wanted to talk to her? She hurried down the hall, intending to dive right into her bedroom and lock the door again.

However, something made her stop right outside Danny’s room.

Through the crack in his door, she could see something.

His lamp was on, the one that projected constellations onto the ceiling.

What was he doing up at this hour? And why did he have that lamp on instead of his main light? He only put that on when he was feeling…

Oh.

That couldn’t be because of _her_ , could it? It was true that she’d been blowing him off for days, but...Danny wouldn’t stress over something like that, right? He was a teenage boy. He was probably happy she was giving him space. She was probably just overthinking things again…right? Just go to bed, Jazz, her brain told her. You can talk to him tomorrow.

Suddenly, her foot went intangible.

“AUGH!!” She fell flat on her face as she tripped, pushing the door open with her full body weight.

“Jazz…?” Danny frowned, perplexed.

“Ugh ouch…” She looked up at him as he helped her up. He had been sitting up in his bed, but by the looks of things, instead of playing videogames or something, it appeared he’d just been staring up at his ceiling.

He grumbled something under his breath and helped her up, albeit reluctantly. “What do _you_ want? Isn’t it like 4am?”

“Is it? Wow, I spent a _lot_ of time getting some water,” she muttered, dusting herself off. “Anyway, uh, can we talk?”

“No thanks.” He crossed his arms. “I’m super tired and obviously so are you. Leave me alone.”

“Danny, come on, I just want to…” She trailed off, realising for the first time angry he was. He’d never glared at her like that before. She slumped her shoulders. “…I knew it. I’m the reason you have that lamp on, aren’t I?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you _do_. I…“ She sighed. “Listen, I know you’re mad, but…can I just stay here for a little bit? Please? You can sleep if you want, I can take a desk chair, I just…really don’t want to be alone right now.”

His glare faltered. She really did look awful. “When was the last time you slept?”

Taking the question as permission, she sat down on the end of his bed. “That depends. What day is it?” She rubbed her eyes. “I can’t stop dreaming about the accident.” She barely held back a shudder. “Also I met a ghost. Well, another one. There’s nothing like knowing ghosts are real to keep you up at night.”

“Wow, you met a ghost?” He shifted to sit beside her. “What was it like?”

“He called himself ‘Phantom’ and he was so _human_ , Danny. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She frowned. “And he was really nice! At first!”

“At first?” He tilted his head, starting to feel a little offended. “Whaddaya mean?”

“We were talking and he called you an ‘invisible nobody’.” She narrowed her eyes and stared down at the carpet. “It was so unnecessary. He doesn’t even know you, but he thinks he can make comments like that? I wanted to punch him. Stupid jerk.”

“Oh?” He blinked. “ _Oh_. So _that’s_ why you got mad.”

“You’re not invisible and you’re not a nobody,” she grumbled. “Forget that guy. He doesn’t know anything. He haunts the house like a weirdo with too much free time.” 

Danny’s face broke into a grin.

“What?” She tilted her head.

“Oh, nothing, I just…” He chuckled a little, shaking his head. “I just really appreciate you, I guess. Never change, Jazz.”

“You too.” She ruffled his hair. “I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you these past few days. I’ve been having a rough time. I just don’t think I’m ready to talk about…the accident just yet.”

“Okay. I won’t ask you to talk about it anymore.” He pulled her into a hug. “But can you at least try to sleep? Seriously, you look like an orange raccoon that got hit by a car, and then the car didn’t notice and then reversed, like, five times. Oh and then that raccoon got shot with one of those tranquiliser dart thingies.”

“…wow.” She made a noise that was a mixture of offended and amused. “Wow, okay, _thank you_ for that mental picture, Danny. Very helpful. How are you failing English again?”

“Lots of practice in not giving a crap,” he joked. “Shakespeare? Never heard of thou.”

She snorted and started to laugh, to _really_ laugh.

Danny smiled and switched his lamp off. The old Jazz was in there after all.

\---

“Okay, let’s take it from the top!”

Jazz groaned and stomped her foot in frustration. “What is the _point_? We’ve been at this for ages. I’m never going to be able to do this thing on command.”

“Well not with _that_ attitude you’re not!” Dash crossed his arms.

“…Please tell me I’m not like this during our tutoring sessions.”

“Nope. You’re worse.” He winked at her.

Whether Jazz liked it or not, it was his responsibility now to make sure she got a hang of her powers. Since setting things on fire seemed to be a reoccurring issue, he’d suggested she work on that first. Also he _really_ wanted to see some fire balls.

So, he’d used his influence as star of the football team to book the football field for their training. The space was bigger than they needed it to be, but when ghost powers were involved, he figured it was better to have a lot of extra space than not enough.

“You gotta remember what you told me,” he continued. “It may seem like you’ll never learn all of this, but as long as you _want_ to learn it, then there’s hope. Don’t give up.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I’m surprised you remembered that.”

“I do _listen_ when words come outta your mouth, y’know,” he replied, fiddling with the buttons on his stopwatch so he could start it again. “Not all jocks are dumb.”

Her forehead creased. “I-I know that!”

“Do you?” He stared at her for a moment, and then pressed a button on the stopwatch. “Anyway! This football field is only gonna be free for another ten minutes. If you don’t set somethin’ on fire by then, you’re not allowed to give me homework this week.”

“What? _No_!” she exclaimed, her voice shrill as it always was when she raised her voice. “I never agreed to that!”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules.”

“You literally just did.”

He smirked and held up his stopwatch.

“Clock’s ticking, princess.”

Jazz sighed. “Okay, whatever. Fine, I’ll give it one more try.” She held her hands out and tried to focus. “Are you being this annoying on purpose or does it just come naturally to you?”

“Yes.”

“That…that doesn’t even answer my-“ She cut herself off with a gasp.

She could feel something bubbling up inside of her, like a pot boiling over inside her chest. It was building, the feeling getting stronger and stronger like the frantic fluttering of butterfly wings. It all felt oddly familiar. Her hands began to spark, tiny flames popping off of her fingertips like little sparklers that had just been lit. Feeling them tingle, Jazz tried to will them to grow bigger, brighter. She brought to mind all the flaming things she could think of- furnaces, campfires, the explosion where her body was set alight like a candle and burning portals surrounded her leaving her with no escape and even less chance of survival than a ghost in a ghosthunter’s house--

Her eyes popped open, her concentration clouded with panic.

The fire, if there was any at all…was gone. She hadn’t even dried out any of the grass below her feet, the light rainwater they were sprinkled with, still undisturbed.

She’d failed. _Again_.

Dash frowned. “Aww, what happened? You nearly had it! Your hands were glowing!”

“Th-they were?”

“Yeah! I thought for _sure_ something was gonna-“

“AHAHAHAHA! BROOOO!!! NO WAYYYYY!!!”

There was the sudden sound of laughing and heavy footsteps as a group of large teenagers stomped over the grass towards them.

Dash cursed under his breath. “Dammit. I’m, like, really sorry. The guys are _never_ early usually.“

“YO! DASH, MY GUY!” One of them- Jazz recognised him as the one named Ethan- waved as he and his buddies approached.

Jazz’s panicked breathing began to quicken. She was technically one of the ‘nerds’ at this school. They’d never believe she was here getting tutored, _especially_ not by one of the jocks. She tried to work her brain overtime in an effort to come up with an explanation, but she was drawing a blank. She needed to get them out of here. She needed a big distraction. What distracted teenage boys?

Her panic levels at all all-time high, Jazz did the only thing she could think of-

-she grabbed Dash by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss.

“Mmmph!!!”

He stiffened, struggling for a moment, before relaxing into it and slowly moving to wrap his arms around her waist.

The jocks clapped. A few of them whistled.

“Come on guys, Dash is kinda _busy_ ,” Ethan replied, smirking. “We’ll be back before practice, big guy. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do~”

The others laughed and followed him into the changing rooms.

As soon as they were gone, Jazz pulled herself away and wiped her lips against the back of her hand.

“Good. They’re gone. I should get out of here before they come back and realise I’m not a cheerleade-“ She tilted her head. “Uh…why are you looking at me like that?”

Dash didn’t reply, either because he couldn’t get the words out, or because he didn’t _have_ the words. His eyebrows were high like he was in shock, but his relaxed posture and slack jaw indicated otherwise. He opened his mouth all the way for a moment, as if to say something, but no words came out, so he shut it again.

Had she _broken his brain_?

It took her a moment, a moment she really didn’t have time for, but she finally came up with an explanation.

“Oh, right, I’m…I’m sorry I kissed you out of the blue like that. I needed to get the guys out of here before they recognised me. I figured nothing distracts teenagers like hormones.” She fiddled with a strand of her hair awkwardly. “Sorry again. I really should have asked. I hope you’re not mad.” She dropped her gaze. “…please say something?”

He laughed a little. “Ah, uh, gah, wow,” he managed, running a hand down his face. “ _Hoo boy_.”

She looked up at him anxiously. He didn’t… _look_ angry, at least? The laughing was a bit concerning.

He rubbed his neck, smiling weakly. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her, even as he spoke, still staring at her with an expression that Jazz couldn’t quite figure out.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t hear, like, _most_ of what you just said,” he admitted sheepishly. “Where’d ya learn to kiss like that? _Damn_ , princess.”

“I’m _not_ a princess!” she huffed. “And I…don’t know?” She could feel her cheeks burning now. “Experience, I guess? That was hardly my first kiss.”

“It _wasn’t_?” He blinked, his cheeks starting to match the red in his signature jacket. “Y-you’ve kissed _other people_?”

“I’m _sixteen_ , Dash,” she replied, starting to get a little amused. “Do you really think I’ve never had a boyfriend before?”

“N-no, I just…” He shook his head, laughing a little. “Wow. Okay. Good to know. I-“ He stared at her for another long minute and his expression slowly fixed into a frown. “Hey, wait a minute! You _used_ me! For a _fakeout makeout_!”

“A…a what?” She blinked.

“A fakeout makeout! When you make out with someone to get out of trouble!”

“I-I _panicked_ , okay?!” She snapped, sure her face was only getting redder. “And anyway, don’t tell me _you’ve_ never kissed someone without meaning it, Mr Star Quarterback!”

“Hey, at least I _ask_ first! Ya can’t just, like, KISS people and then-“

She froze suddenly, eyes wide. “Wait, shut up for a minute.”

He crossed his arms. “Okay now you’re just being rude.”

“No, _shut up_ ,” she replied, her voice slow but urgent. “Do you hear something? It kind of sounds like…”

“You’re MINE, ghost child!!!” someone roared, flying past them in a blur of glowing metal. “I should mount you on my wall, WHELP!”

“At least take me to dinner, first!” yelled someone else, a black and white blur, as they shot a ball of green energy.

Jazz had to duck to avoid it hitting her. “HEY! WATCH IT!” 

“Sorry!”

Dash’s forehead creased. “…’ _mount you on my wall’?”_ he muttered _._ “Why does that sound so familiar?”

“I think…that’s the ghost from the other night?” Her hands clenched into fists. “He used that insult on US, remember? Oh, I’m gonna show that asshole a _piece of my mind!_ ”

“What? Are you CRAZY?!” He grabbed her hands quickly. “I dunno if you noticed, but he’s not teeny anymore! He has _weapons_! _Flaming_ weapons!!!”

“Yeah?” She yanked her hands away from his. “Well so have I.” Her eyes flashed orange, and, without a second thought, she chased after them.

Dash sighed and headed into the changing rooms, figuring the least he could do was buy her some time with his teammates.

“HEY! GHOST!”

The one being chased turned to look at her, just in time to smack face-first into the bleachers. He rubbed his head. “Oww, that was…” His eyes widened. “ _Jazz_?”

“ _Phantom_?” She rushed over and offered him a hand. He took it gratefully. “I’m sorry I-” Despite the circumstances, she stifled a giggle and bit her bottom lip. “- _spooked_ you.”

He stared at her flatly. “I don’t know whether to be proud or offended.”

“How about _dead_?” a deep, threatening voice added, looking down at them like they were mere ants. From that high up, they probably looked like they were.

Phantom visibly stiffened and moved to stand protectively in front of his sister.

“Okay, when I give the word, I want you to run, okay?” he whispered. “This guy’s a hunter. It’s me he wants.”

“He’s a _what_?” He felt the colour drain from her face. Maybe rushing into this fight when she barely had a handle on her powers _hadn’t_ been the best course of action to take…

The hunter in question raised his mechanical eyebrows, finally noticing the female.

“Oh! It’s you!” He suddenly grinned, hollow red eyes glinting dangerously. “I see you survived all the fire! Congrats!”

Anger bubbling up inside of her, that voice of reason was forced into a little more than a whisper.

“YEAH! It’s ME!” she snapped. “How DARE you show your face after what you did to me!”

“Uh…what?” Phantom blinked, looking between the two of them confusedly.

“Please,” Skulker replied, ignoring him. “You did that to yourself. Kindness is _weak_ , child. It’s too easily exploited.”

“KINDESS IS _NOT_ WEAK!!!” She looked around for something to throw at him, and finally settled on a spare football that was lying on the grass.

Skulker floated out of the way as it was thrown in his direction, looking a little bored.

“Well it certainly hasn’t helped your _throwing_ _ability_ ,” he mocked.

Jazz tensed. “Phantom, how does one kill a ghost?” she muttered, her tone low and dangerous. “I want to _snap his tiny neck in half_.”

Danny gulped. “Can…someone please explain what the heck’s going on here? I’m sensing some…hostility.” He grabbed Jazz’s arm, holding her back in case she actually tried to pounce at the large metal ghost. She was mad enough for it. At least it wasn’t directed at him for a change.

“The hunters thought they could capture me,” Skulker replied, aiming his gun at her.

“And they did. With ease. Because he’s a weak little blob thing under that suit,” Jazz added flatly, before resuming glaring. “How DARE you show your face after that! I SET YOU FREE!”

“I never asked you to do that.”

Danny quickly pulled Jazz out of the way of some incoming projectiles. She didn’t even seem to notice. She was too busy glaring.

“Jazz, come on, you’ve gotta—” He paused, their words finally sinking in. “Wait, I’m sorry, you did WHAT?!”

“They were going to _dissect_ him, Danny.” She looked at him desperately. “I couldn’t let them do it. Nobody deserves that, not even ghosts that are evil. If you’d _seen_ those weapons, how _sharp_ they were…” She flinched, starting to get pale again. “You would have done the same thing. I’m sure of it.”

He frowned and, after a moment, finally nodded, before turning back to the ghost.

“So let me get this straight: she let you _go_ …and you’re _still_ gonna attack her?” He crossed his arms. “Wow, you really _are_ an asshole.”

“I have no use for _feelings_. YOU on the other hand…” The hunter held up his hand and it transformed into a much bigger gun, one that likely shot something more powerful than projectiles. “Prepare to die AGAIN, whelp!”

“NO!” Jazz stepped in front of Phantom and held out her hands like a shield, her limbs wobbling in fear, despite the hard stare she had fixed on the hunter. “I WON’T let you hurt him!”

“Jazz! What are you DOING?!”

He tried to step in front of her, but the look she was giving him was so resolute and stern, that he found himself moving beside her instead. He recognised this look well. It was the one she often took on when she was reprimanding their parents for putting him in danger. She’d always been so protective of him. Did she somehow know he was Phantom after all?

“Look, if you won’t move, I have no problem killing you first, girl.”

“Go ahead, big, scary hunter,” Jazz spat, her eyes beginning to glow orange. “I’ve already died once. What’s _one more_ time?”

“Hey, it’s your funeral.”

He finally fired the gun.

Jazz didn’t move. She didn’t dare to. Trying to ignore the frantic thumping of her heart, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on her outstretched hands instead. They were starting to get hotter. She only had one shot at this.

**Crackle…crackle…**

“Hot stoves…ovens…campfires…furnaces…fireplaces…” she muttered desperately. “…come on come on come onnnn…”

The blast from the gun hurtled towards her. She thought she was going to die again. She was sure she was going to die again. But suddenly, just inches from her face, two large, flaming balls of energy erupted from her palms, smashing into the blast. Her eyes shot open just in time for her to witness the two blasts colliding and cancelling each other out. The impact of the small explosion slid her back a few steps. She looked herself over, and then at her hands. Not a single part of her was on fire. How was that possible?

What a _rush_. She exhaled and held her hands out again, prepared to block the next attack.

But it didn’t come.

She looked up. The ghost was staring at her, his robotic eyes wide.

Now _that_ was shock.

She would have laughed if she were in any less danger.

She glanced at Phantom. He was alright, thankfully. It appeared the force of the blast had only knocked his butt to the floor and given his suit a few scorch marks.

What really freaked Jazz out was his expression. His usual confidence had warped itself into pure, unadulterated fear…and it was aimed at _her_.

She balled her hands into fists. This was why she didn’t want anyone to know what she was. This was why she’d hid away in her room so much. That little green pain in her ass was going to _pay_ for forcing her to show her abilities in front of someone she cared about.

“I am _through_ showing you mercy.” Her voice was dangerously quiet, filled with the searing heat of raw, suppressed anger that was fuelling her glowing eyes. “Next time I see your face, be prepared to learn just how _fast_ that fancy metal suit of yours can _melt_.” She narrowed those eyes, silently challenging him to make her day and try it.

Skulker’s metal suit groaned and creaked, almost like it were nervous. He reluctantly put his guns away. “This isn’t over, ghost girl. I _will_ return. With fireproof weaponry.”

“And I’ll be here. With a net.” She smirked. “That’s all my parents used to catch you, right? A little ghost-proof net?”

Skulker growled, lifting his gun again. He probably would have taken the shot if it wasn’t for Phantom shaking himself out of his shock and remembering why he was here.

Taking advantage of the fact that the attention was no longer on him, he quickly floated behind the hunter and trapped him inside the Fenton Thermos.

Once he was out of sight, Jazz collapsed onto the cool grass of the football pitch, her legs too shaky to keep her up any longer. She folded them behind her, breathing heavily.

“I just…did I just… _do_ that?” She looked down at her hands. “On _purpose?!”_ She blinked, a little drowsily, spots scattering across her vision. “Hoo _yep_ , gotta practice that.”

Danny didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t know where to start. He attached the thermos to his belt again and slowly sat down beside her, watching her cautiously. She still _looked_ like Jazz, albeit paler and even more exhausted than usual, but…she was Jazz. Maybe. But Jazz was human. Humans couldn’t…do that. Whatever ‘ _that’_ was. That accident she wouldn’t talk to anyone about…did that have something to do with this? Could it be that she was a…?

Oh no, she was looking at him now. He had to say something

“Thanks for…” He cleared his throat. His voice sounded way too soft. “Th-thanks for saving me,” he tried again. It was a little louder, but it had a permanent wobble to it now. Danny wasn’t sure which sounded more suspicious.

She looked up at him, her eyes back to their usual blue. It was almost like he’d imagined the whole thing.

“Any time.”

She looked up at the sky, her eyes dull with…could it be sadness? Danny felt his heart sink. Jazz didn’t deal with change all that well, and this, whatever it was…was a pretty big change. How many times had she hid in her room, just trying to suppress these powers?

“Jazz…” His voice caught in his throat. What could he say? _Jazz, I’m sorry you maybe died_? _Jazz you’re probably a half ghost_? _Jazz, please don’t burn me to bits HOLY SHIT_? “Why…why _did_ you…save me?”

“You remind me a lot of my little brother.”

“O-oh?” He laughed weakly. “That’s…weird.”

“Not really.” She turned her head to looked at him, her blinking slowing a little. “He’s a kind person, but usually to a fault. He’d help people if he was able to, even if it meant it made his life harder. That’s just who he is. I really didn’t appreciate what you said about him the other night.”

“Jazz, you really don’t understand what I’m-” He looked her over for the twelfth time. She had to be Jazz. She had to be. Nobody else would say stuff like that about him and mean it. He wanted to hug her, but he wasn’t sure if doing so would get his face melted off.

When he didn’t follow his reply up with anything else, she turned her head to look at him.

“I know. You don’t want to talk about this. You’d rather I just explain the situation with my powers.” She shifted to sit up a bit. She wiped her forehead as if even that small action had exhausted her again. “You want to know if I’m a threat? A vengeful ghost you’ll eventually have to trap in that box thing?”

He touched the Fenton Thermos lightly. “No, you’d never do anything bad enough for that.”

“How are you so sure?” She tilted her head. “We only met last night.”

“Because…because you’re _Jazz_.” He reached a gloved hand towards her and touched her arm, almost like he was trying to see if she were still tangible. “You’re my friend.”

Okay, as touching as that was, there was something about the way he'd said that. That gentle but awkward tone of voice. like he was freaked out, but trying to be strong for her sake, that sounded...eerily familiar.

She stared at him, and for the first time, something seemed to click in her mind.

“…Danny?”

“Y-yep!” He forced a bright smile. “That’s me! Danny Phantom!”

“No.” She leaned closer to him and looked him in the eyes. “You’re _Danny_.”

"HAHAHAHAHAHA Who is this DANNY you speak of? I couldn't POSSIBLY-" He sighed and hung his head. “Okay, fine, what gave me away?”

“Danny…” She choked back a sob and, after a moment of hesitation, brushed some white hair out of his face so she could look at him properly. “When you talked about getting electrocuted, you were talking about the…”

He flinched. “The portal. Yeah. I know I should have told you, I wanted to, but…”

She tackled him into one of her usual protective hugs. Just like the other night, he let himself sink into it. He’d never admit it out loud, but he always enjoyed the comfort of Jazz’s hugs. Well, when he got one when she wasn’t being overbearing, anyway.

“D-Danny I’m so _so_ sorry…”

“It…it’s okay,” he replied, a little stunned. “You’re not mad?”

“Of course I’m mad. Our parents are officially the _worst_.” She hugged him tighter. “But…you’re okay. You’ve got ghost powers, but…you’re okay. They didn’t kill you. I don’t think.” She froze, apparently second guessing herself for a moment, and then sat back so she could grip him by the shoulders and look him in the eyes like a concerned parent would. “They didn’t KILL you, did they?”

“No, no, I’m alive. Well, half alive. I think what happened to me is kinda like what happened to you.” He put a hand on top of one of hers. “This…is why you didn’t wanna talk about the explosion, isn’t it?”

She nodded solemnly. “I’m so scared they’re going to find out, Danny. They’d reach for the nearest sharp knife.”

He winced. “Maybe. We can’t really know for sure until we actually tell them.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“What? _I’m_ not volunteering. I like my head _attached_ , thanks.”

She smiled a little.

“JAZZ! HEY!”

The Fentons both looked up at they saw someone rush over.

“Hey Dash.” She waved half-heartedly. “This is Phantom. He was just-“

“-leaving,” Danny finished for her. “Stay safe, uh, _random citizen_.” He pinned her with a serious look. She stared back for a moment, confused, and then quickly nodded.

“Right. I bet you’re really busy. You know. Being a ghost and all.”

“Right. Bye.” He offered her an awkward salute and vanished.

“What was that all about?” Dash asked, frowning “Actually, y’know what, nevermind. The guys are gonna be here any minute. You _really_ need to go.”

“Oh! Right!” She stood up…and immediately regretted it. Thankfully, Dash was able to catch her before she could collapse again.

“Woah, careful! You okay?”

“Yeah, just a bit drained…” She smiled weakly. “I fought a ghost off with a fireball.”

“And I MISSED it?!” He moved her carefully to a standing position and kept an arm around her to keep her upright. “Aww man, I bet that was BADASS!”

“It was.” She grinned. “And you want to know the best part?”

“What?” He pouted.

“This means you still get homework.”

He gasped.

“ _What_? No WAY!” He shook his head quickly. “That doesn’t count. I didn’t get to see it.”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules.”

“You literally just did.”

She winked at him and walked away.


	3. Bitter Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Jazz can relax! No ghost inventions, no crazy ghost obsessed parents, just a normal ghost-free weekend at Vlad Master's castle! What could go wrong? (Except EVERYTHING?)

“WHY is HE here again?” Danny complained, gesturing to the boy sat beside his sister.

“Ya got a PROBLEM with me, FenTURD?” Dash glared, grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

“As a matter of fact, I DO!”

“Dash! Let _go_ of my brother!”

He grumbled something in reply, but dropped him anyway. Jazz massaged her forehead. It was aching more than usual today, and she had a feeling she knew why.

“Thank you. I-- _eeep_!”

Her father quickly turned to look at her from the driver's seat, excitement in his eyes.

“What is it, Jazz? Did you see a GHOST?!”

“N-nope! No ghost here!”

Dash moved in front of Jazz, intentionally blocking her from his view. 

“Hey, you okay?” he whispered urgently

She nodded.

“Can confirm the RV is ghost-free,” Danny added helpfully. “You gotta focus on the road, Dad.”

Jack huffed disappointedly and turned back around.

Now that the coast was clear, Dash sat back down, though he continued to look at her with that concerned frown of his.

Jazz shoved her- now invisible- hand in her pocket. She liked Dash, she appreciated that he cared about her, but there were times where he treated her like a china doll that would shatter at the slightest touch. She didn’t like it.

Danny was better at acting like he wasn’t worried, since he excelled at downplaying really bad situations through humour, but even he couldn’t joke around if he thought the situation was particularly bad. That worried her more than anything.

“Hey, are you gonna be okay?” her brother asked, glancing nervously at the castle up ahead. “We gotta be here overnight, and Vlad is kindaaaaa...”

“I’ll be _fine,_ little brother,” she interrupted, a little hardness making its' way intoher voice. She couldn’t wait to master her powers so people wouldn’t look at her like that anymore. “Besides, between avoiding Dad and stopping you two from killing each other, I think he’ll have his hands too full to notice anything _I'm_ doing.”

She huffed and leaned against Dash’s arm. She’d had so many power malfunctions today. It was really starting to drain her energy. Fortunately, Dash was pretty comfy.

The older boy smiled amusedly down at her. “If you wanted to use me as a pillow, you coulda just asked.”

Her cheeks flushed brightly. “O-oh, um, I-“

Luckily, she was spared any embarrassed rambling, as the RV violently, and without warning, sparked, got dangerously close to tipping over, and then abruptly halted.

Jazz pressed a hand to her heart. She couldn’t believe nearly dying at the hands of her parents took sixteen years and not…six.

“How in the _hell_ have we survived this long,” she muttered as she looked herself over for injury.

“I’m convinced it was just a _lot_ of dumb luck,” Danny replied with a bitter chuckle.

“Oh DARN! Looks like we’re not goin’ anywhere, kids,” Jack informed them grumpily. “I'll tryta fix this. You go ahead to Vladdie’s before your Mom finds out what I did to the RV and kills me.”

“ _Super_.” Danny got out the vehicle on his side.

“You really hate this Masters guy, huh?” Dash noted, opening his door.

“You got no idea.” He slammed his door shut. “This trip is so stupid. I feel like me and Jazz were only here, like, a few months ago. I was hoping I still had time to pretend it never happened.”

Jazz climbed out of the vehicle on Dash’s side and stretched, flickering briefly. “Well I, for one, am happy to be back here. No weird ghost inventions trying to kill me, no weird ghost hunting parents trying to kill me, just a weird billionaire with egomania. I can deal with that for a day.”

“I remember when I was that naïve.” He sighed.

The teens made their way towards the mansion, but Danny kept looking behind him like he hoped he still had time to jump back into the RV before his dad fixed it and left. Why, oh why didn’t his parents have other, less _evil_ friends to babysit them? _And why was Dash here._

Vlad was, predictably, waiting at the front door for them.

“Daniel, Jasmine, a pleasure to...” He frowned suddenly. “Who…is this boy?”

“Dash Baxter, star quarterback,” replied the boy in question, pointing a thumb at himself proudly.

“I tutor him,” Jazz explained quickly. “I didn’t want him to miss any of our sessions, so I brought him along. I hope that’s alright.”

He looked the boy up and down with distaste. “Hm. I suppose it can’t be helped. Where are your parents?”

“The car broke down, so he’s dealing with that, and Mom didn’t even come,” Danny explained, already sounding bored out of his mind. “Better luck next time, fruitloop.”

Jazz frowned at him. “What Danny _means_ to say is, _thank you_ for letting us stay here while our parents are gone.”

“That’s not what I meant and you KNOW i-mmph!” He glared as his sister clamped a hand over his mouth.

Vlad grinned a wide Cheshire cat smile. “Not to worry, Jasmine. Not even _I_ can be loved by everyone. He’ll warm up to me, though. I’m sure of it.”

“Like hell I will!”

“Danny!” She gave him a look so stern that it could only have come from a parent.

He grumbled something under his breath and stomped his way inside. Dash followed him, his curiosity getting the better of him. Were those football jerseys on the wall?

Jazz didn’t move. She could still feel a tingling sensation in the hand she was hiding. It wasn’t back to normal yet. Yes, she was away from her parents, but was she really prepared to risk a total stranger finding out her secret instead?

“Jasmine?” She didn’t respond, so Vlad tapped her shoulder. “Jasmine.”

“H-huh what?” She straightened up quickly. “Y-yes, Mr Masters?”

“Are you planning to come inside at all?”

“Yeah, I am, I just…” She crossed her arms. He was looking at her like she was a weirdo. She supposed she kind of was now. “Sorry. I’m dealing with a lot right now.”

“Ah, Maddie did mention you hadn’t been yourself lately. Come, we can talk in the library.”

She knew she should have been suspicious. He clearly didn’t care about her. He just wanted to get praise from her mother for helping one of her children, and she had no plans to tell him about the accident. Still, she followed him anyway, the promise of a room filled with books being way too enticing to pass up.

She felt the tingling in her hand disappear. She only had to survive until morning. That was 13 hours. Well, actually, more like 5 if she factored in a full night’s sleep. She’d be fine. Besides, both Danny and Dash were here with her, and-

“Get OFF me, man!”

“Not until you APOLOGISE!”

**CRASH!**

“I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Dash leaped for the signed football that had fallen off its’ podium and managed to catch it mere seconds before it hit the floor.

“YESSSSS! And the crowd goes wiiiiild!!!” He made some cheering noises for his imaginary crowd.

Jazz inhaled slowly through her mouth and let out a deep sigh.

“Please...give me a moment, Mr Masters.”

“Alright.” Vlad’s face had gone a little red, like he was seconds from losing his temper. Not the greatest start.

Jazz walked over, a big smile plastered over her face. “Danny. Dash. Boys…” she greeted, her voice sickly sweet. Once Vlad was out of earshot, she lowered it to whispered shout. It didn’t sound too different from the hissing of open flames. “What the _hell_ do you think you’re doing?”

“Danny’s a lil’ twerp,” Dash complained. “He said-“

“HEY! YOU started it!”

Dash shoved him roughly. “So what if I-“

“BOYS!” She stepped between them and held her arms out like a human barrier. “Dash, if you don’t stop trying to beat up my brother during this trip _, so help me god,_ I’ll torch you like a campfire marshmallow. Do NOT test me. And Danny, you-“

“You think you’re TOUGH, pipsqueak?”

“Tougher than YOU, ya big jerk!”

“Why you little-“

Jazz sighed.

These five hours were going to be a disaster.

\---

“I’ve never seen Daniel so angry at someone that wasn’t me,” Vlad commented, amused, as he took a seat on the armchair opposite Jazz.

“He and Dash…kind of have a history,” she explained, rubbing her eyes tiredly. “But…I need Dash. It’s complicated.” She picked up the nearest book and raised an eyebrow. “Do you really need a book on _How to Deliver Dramatic Monologues_? Aren’t you a businessman?”

“Yes, well, everyone is allowed their hobbies, hmm?” His smile was polite, but the way he pulled the book out of her hands was anything but gentle. “So…” He cleared his throat. “Tell me, why is it you seem so run down today? Does it have anything to do with the ‘dealing with a lot’ that you mentioned before?”

“You could say that. Though my mom talking about me behind my back doesn’t exactly lift my spirits.” She sunk further into the chair. “Usually I like having people’s attention, but lately…all I want to do is pretend I don’t exist and hope the rest of the world does too. My parents have ruined my life.”

Vlad hummed, the sound betraying a little of his curiosity. “Oh? Could I ask how?”

“No.”

“Hm. Alright. Then would you permit me to guess?” She shrugged, so he continued, taking that as a yes. “Your parents are genius inventors, but they’re both very impulsive and they have a tendency to get carried away with their work. Could it be that one of their inventions unintentionally caused you harm? It wouldn’t be the first time that happened.”

“Oh! That’s right!” She quickly sat up, an idea forming in her head. “Didn’t something like that happened to you in college?”

He nodded. “I'm surprised they told you about that. But yes. Jack, with _no_ regard for safety, without so much as a _countdown_ , turned on the prototype ghost portal while I was looking into it. It _ruined_ my life. I could have _died!”_ He scowled, but quickly cleared his throat and fixed it into a more pleasant expression. “Not that I hold any kind of grudge, of course.”

Jazz’s scowl mirrored his. “That's so typical of Dad. He never thinks _anything_ through, and then it’s _everyone else_ that has to pick up the pieces.” She balled her hands into fists. “My parents have hurt so many people with their sick obsession. I am _done_ with them not facing any kind of consequences for their incompetence.”

Vlad grinned. The most he’d been hoping from his Uncle Vlad act would be that the girl would go home and tell her mother how great and understanding he was, but this was so much better!

“I sympathise, really, I do,” he said, pretending to be concerned. “You and Daniel deserve so much better. But as long as you live under their roof, there isn’t an awful lot you can do to avoid them, I’m afraid.”

“Don’t remind me.”

For a long moment, the room was submerged into silence, the only sound coming from Jazz’s breathing, which was a bit louder and more deliberate than it had been before the accident.

The cogs in her brain began to work. If Danny had gotten ghost powers from being electrocuted by the ghost portal, and she’d gotten ghost powers by being subjected to a ghost gun, then what if...

She stiffened.

“Mr Masters, could I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“After your accident...did you have any...” She paused, trying to find the right words. “ _Supernatural side effects_?”

He frowned a little but made an effort to keep his practiced polite smile. “What on earth do you mean, Jasmine?”

“I don’t know, like…floating, walking through walls, that kind of thing?” She looked down at her lap. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked that. He was going to think she was crazy.

“…What?” He chuckled. “Of course not, my girl. A human with ghostly abilities? That isn’t scientifically possible.”

“Yeah, I…I guess not.” She fell silent again for another moment, trying to decide what to change the subject to to avoid future embarrassment, but her brain just couldn’t let this go. She was onto something, she was sure of it. If he had ghost powers, maybe he knew about a cure, or had more information about it! It would make sense!

“Exactly,” Vlad replied. “There’s much we don’t know about ghosts, but we know that a human can’t have ghost powers. They’d have to be both half alive and half dead somehow. It just isn’t possible.”

“Yeah, but…wait, no, it _is_ though!” She suddenly stood up. “I mean, it _has_ to be. We have proof both ghosts _and_ ectoplasm are real- my parents use ectoplasm to power their ghost weaponry! They didn’t just make that stuff out of nothing! It came from _ghosts!_ That’s humans utilising ghost material for power! And if that's real and the human body consumed a lot of it, well…” She wandered over to the bookshelves. “Hold on, if there’s a book on _drama_ in here, then there _has_ to be one on human biology.” She started skimming the _Science_ section.

Vlad stood up. “Jasmine, tell me, why are you so interested in this all of a sudden?”

“Because...” She stopped as she tried to search for the right words. “Because when I...and Danny, he...” She could still see all the fire that surrounded her that night. She could still feel the burning pain and hear her strangled cries for it to stop. She swallowed, her throat bone dry all of a sudden. She had to get out of here before she set something on fire. “I’m j-just curious. But it’s fine. It d-doesn't matter.” She offered him a shaky smile. “I should go tutor Dash. Thank you for talking to me, Mr Masters.”

Before he could say anything, she pushed the door open and disappeared down the hall.

Vlad watched the space she’d been with a frown. Something was definitely up with that child, and he was going to find out what, or his name wasn’t Vlad Plasmius.

\---

Dash paused just as he was about to punch the smaller boy in the face. He sniffed the air.

“Hey, do you smell smoke?”

“What? Why would I-?” He paused. “Wait, yeah, I do. Are we finally getting food?”

“DASH! DANNY!” Jazz shrieked, running towards them. “You have to HELP ME!!!”

“Why, what’s...” Dash blinked. “Hey is that a literal _trail_ of fire?”

“ _There's_ our smoke.” Danny chuckled. “Damn, Jazz. I know Vlad can make a person mad, but, like, don’t you think burning his house to the ground is a bit much?”

“ _Danny_!!!”

“Right. Sorry. I’m a bit desensitised to this stuff by now.”

“Quit mocking her and _help,_ Fen-turd!” Dash snapped, taking off his jacket and using it to pat down the flames.

“Right. Right. I’ve gotta look after her,” he reminded himself quietly, moving to stand in front of her. “Listen, Jazz, if your powers are anything like Phantom's, they’re affected by your emotions. Did Vlad make you mad?”

“Not really, I was just...I started thinking about-”

There was a loud roar and the flames suddenly grew to twice their original size.

“WOAH!” Dash jumped back.

“Yeeeeah…you’re gonna have to _stop_ thinking about that...”

Jazz huffed. If there was one thing she hated, it was not being in control. “It’s not that simple! I’m a textbook overthinker! I can’t just...” She ran a hand through her hair stressfully. “Staying here was a mistake. I never should have brought you two with me.”

“Well it’s not like I had a choice anyway, to be fair.”

Jazz’s shoulders slumped. She didn’t need to look behind her to know the flames weren’t going away any time soon.

“I dunno what you’re doing, Fen-turd, but it’s not working.” The quarterback pat down his jacket. “We gotta try somethin’ else. Would water work?”

“...yes, Dash,” Danny replied flatly. “Water would _definitely_ work on ghost fire. Oh and also, I’m passing English. And the tooth fairy is real.”

“Don’t be a brat, Danny,” Jazz answered for him, mostly because she wasn’t sure the older boy would pick up on the sarcasm. “We need a new plan, or a distraction or...”

“We could kiss again?” Dash suggested with a shrug. “It worked the first time.”

“It- WHAT?!” Danny pulled a face. “You guys KISSED?!”

“It was a fake-out makeout,” they said in unison.

Danny took a horrified step back. “NO! No WAY! You two are not- _NO_!”

“We’re not- look, dude, she’s still on FIRE!”

“Yeah? Well I think this is _more important_ , asshole! You KISSED her and you were gonna do it _AGAIN_!”

“WAS NOT!”

“WAS TOO!”

“It was HER idea!”

“And you LET her?!”

“She’s HOT! What was I supposed to do, NOT kiss her?!”

“YES!!!”

Jazz looked at the corridor behind her. She wasn’t sure how long it would be before Vlad came out into the hall and saw her like this. She really didn’t have time to deal with their arguing.

Danny had said water wouldn’t work, and she supposed he would know, but what choice did she have? She headed back down the hall in search of a shower or swimming pool or something _._

\---

Well, Jazz didn’t find a swimming pool.

On her way to find one, she’d thought she’d heard a maid and had instinctively pressed her back up against a wall, but she’d forgotten that her feet were still on fire. In her panic, she’d ended up charring a wall painting so badly that it revealed what was underneath: a small metal tunnel, no bigger than an air vent.

So, that was where she was now- her breath held in and her body squeezing through a space so tight that it could _not_ have been intended for humans.

She sneezed. Why were there so many feathers in here? Did Vlad train birds?

The billionaire was clearly not a normal person, but then again, he was friends with her parents, so that tracked.

_“I don’t trust that boy.”_

Jazz froze. What was that? A voice?

 _“Is he planning something?”_ it continued. _“I wouldn’t put it past him to take advantage of this situation to enact his idea of justice.”_

She tried to listen carefully as the sound bounced around the small tunnel. The voice was so nearby that it was causing the metal chamber around her to vibrate intensely. Was she above another room? She had to be careful. It would look pretty bad if she were caught snooping.

_“If she knows my secret, then how many others? FUDGE SQUARES! I should never have expected a mere CHILD to understand the gravity of our situation! The brat will have us under watch from the government!”_

…the government? What?

She shuffled further down so she could hear better. The voice had an echo, so it was hard to determine exactly who it belonged to, but it sounded familiar. She tried not to fear the worst.

There was the erratic sound of footsteps, followed by a swooshing sound, and the shallow whirring of some kind of construction tool against metal.

Who was this ‘boy’ he kept referring to?

_“If I were permitted to guess, I’d say she figured it out on her own, but I'm sure the boy had a part in that. Drat. The more people that know, the less likely I’ll be able to carry out my plan in secrecy. I need to find out what she knows. I don’t have a lot of time.”_

Wait…

‘If I were permitted to guess’? Where had she heard that before?

She choked back a gasp.

_Oh no._

She shuffled a little further, but the flames surrounding her feet and crawling up her legs were so hot now that they were actually damaging the thin metal.

The good news? Her flames couldn’t burn her.

The bad news? The same couldn’t be said for the air vent.

The metal gave way, and Jazz suddenly found herself falling through it, towards the ground far below.

She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed. This was it. This was how she finally died- falling through an air vent, into the clutches of someone that meant her and her brother harm, while the brother in question, the literal superhero, was busy arguing with his high school bully.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally stopped falling.

She took a moment to focus her breathing. She was okay. She was alive. She wasn’t an orange and teal splat on the floor. She was fine.

But...that had been a very long fall.

She should _not_ have been fine.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes. The room she’d fallen into was a lot darker than she’d thought, so she took a moment to let her eyes adjust.

“Jasmine?!” came a familiar voice from above her head. “Where on _earth_ did you...?”

Her body stiffened violently. “M-M-Mr Masters?!” She looked up towards the source of the voice, blinking quickly to clear her vision. “Um, h-hi!”

“Hi,” he replied flatly. “Were you _spying_ on me, by any chance?”

“N-no! I would NEVER! I, uh, well you see, I was on fire, and-“ She shook her head. “I mean...uh...I got lost!! Fell through a painting. It was very weird.” She decided she had to be careful of the information she gave this guy from now on. From what she’d heard, he didn’t appear to have the best intentions. She had to play her cards right.

He gave her an unconvinced look and unceremoniously dumped her onto the floor, comfortable doing this now that he was sure she wasn’t dead.

“Um, _rude?”_ She huffed and dusted herself off. He was lucky the cramped air vent had made her limbs too numb to feel that.

“You snuck into my private laboratory.” He crossed his arms. “That ship has sailed.”

“Your...private…?” She slowly stood up, and looked around.

This place...really _was_ a lab. To the right of her was a large empty cage and desks covered with various sized beakers and science equipment. To the left, there was an unidentifiable metal device that was partially disassembled, and on the far end of the room, behind all the slick black kitchen counters, was something large and circular and metal _._ The doors were closed, but she could hear the thrum of something alive and inhuman behind them, just waiting to come out.

Her eyes widened. She’d know that device anywhere. It was all her parents had talked about ever since they’d created it. But why would Vlad…?

An idea suddenly began to click in her mind.

The reason Danny hated Vlad so much, the reason the latter gave her such a strange vibe, the reason he had his own Fenton tech…it all made sense now.

Danny had called himself a superhero, so was it possible that meant…

She looked Vlad in the eyes, warm blue to icy cold.

...He was his super _villain_?

“Y-you...you never _did_ let go of that grudge, did you?” Jazz declared, taking a step back.

He took a slow step towards her. “No. After all, how could I? Jack _ruined_ my life, and he still gets to live his own life happy, and without consequence. Tell me, Jasmine, what part of that is _fair_?” He narrowed his eyes, as if to say ‘answer carefully. I’m in a bad mood _.’_ Jazz had the uncomfortable feeling that she may not make it out of here alive. She had to be smart.

“You’re right. He does deserve punishment for what he’s done.” She cleared her throat. It would help if her voice would stop shaking. “I know that better than anyone. But all this?” She gestured around the room. “Ghost technology was what started all this. You’re fighting fire with fire. You’ll just create more fire.”

He shook his head. “Oh, what would a child know? You have a black and white morality complex, just like your brother. Speaking of...” He placed his arms behind his back in feigned politeness, his gaze studying her closely. “How much did he tell you?”

“Danny? Nothing.” She straightened up. “But I have a few theories.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“I’m willing to bet that accident changed you more than you’re willing to admit.” She walked around the lab, looking around a bit. “It definitely gave you ecto-acne, I don’t doubt that, but what if...” She glanced down at her feet, which were no longer on fire, and frowned.

“Yes?” He tapped his foot against the cold ash-stained tile below them. “Get on with it, child.”

“Right. Sorry. Um...” She lowered her voice, though wasn’t sure herself why. It wasn’t like there was anyone else around to hear them. “What if, after your accident, you realised you’d changed? You still looked like yourself, but something felt...different. You felt like a person you no longer recognised. Like…” She made a noise that revealed how frustrated she was. Vlad couldn’t be trusted. Was she really going to tell him everything on the slim chance he’d had a similar experience?

“Like _what_?” he persisted, his tone getting harsher. He was running out of patience, and she was running out of ways to describe having ghost powers without _actually saying_ she had ghost powers.

She looked back towards the ghost portal. What was he even doing in here? It seemed like he was researching something, but wha-

“You’d better finish that sentence,” Vlad continued, his voice so low and quiet that it sounded almost…villainous. Jazz suppressed a shudder. “Because it’s the _only_ thing stopping me from treating you like I would a _trespasser_.” The way he’d said that last word gave Jazz the creeps. She doubted he treated trespassers to tea. A terrified part of her brain wondered if he had any torture equipment down here.

“I-I-I…” She cleared her throat. “I-I don’t know _how!_ It’s…”

Oh how she wished she could be literally anywhere else right now. She wished she was back upstairs with Danny, or even tutoring Dash. She might have been bored and annoyed, but at least she’d be _safe_ -

That was when it happened.

Her fingers suddenly began to tingle, the feeling getting more and more intense the more she focussed on it, like she had a really bad case of pins-and-needles. Her palms began to bubble with something that looked like warm orange foam. She instinctively shook her hands aggresively in an attempt to get the strange goo off.

“What on earth?!” Vlad took a step back. “In all my years of study, I’ve never-“

“I don’t KNOW, okay?! I can’t know everything _all the time!”_

She snapped her head up to glare at him, her eyes glowing a bright golden orange. Almost as a reaction to it, the goo began to glow the same colour as it settled onto the floor and expanded.

Jazz stared at it. It looked kind of like a weird…makeshift doorway. But on the floor? She peered into it. It looked like it lead to…

“Is that my _lounge_?” Vlad asked, staring at it owlishly. “Jasmine, how on _earth_ did you…?”

Danny poked his head through. “Hey, guys. Sweet portal.”

“Danny!” Feeling like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, she quickly yanked him the rest of the way through and pulled him into a hug.

“Woah, Jazz! What-“

She laughed shakily, hugging him tighter.

“I’m just glad you’re here.”

Danny hugged her back gently for a moment, and then straightened up to face his nemesis, staring him down with uncharacteristic seriousness. “Alright, Vlad, what are you doin’ with her?”

“Nothing. Calm yourself, boy.” He gestured to the orange portal next to them, which was rapidly closing. “She has some _explaining_ to do.”

The siblings exchanged looks. Jazz took a step forward. The window of opportunity she'd had to not tell him the truth was over. She had to come clean.

“There was an… _incident_. Involving some faulty ecto-technology.” She squeezed her hands into tight fists as her mind once again recounted the horrific events of that day.

Vlad raised his eyebrows. “Daniel, did you know about this?”

“Duh.” He crossed his arms. “But my parents _don’t_ , so we’d like to keep it that way.”

“Naturally.” He seemed somewhat amused by this, though Jazz couldn’t discern why.

“Mr Masters, you have a lot of ghost knowledge, right?” She took a shaking breath. “What...what do you think is wrong with me?”

“I have a few theories of my own on that front.” He took a step back and studied her again. “If I am not mistaken, it would seem that you, like me, are now one of the most powerful beings in existence- a half ghost.”

“Like you...?” She regarded him suspiciously. “You don’t mean...”

“Yes.” His eyes flashed red. “I too am a half ghost. For twenty years, I’ve been working on mastering my abilities and learning all the ways I can use them to my advantage.” He straightened up. “I could train you, you know. Teach you everything I know. All you’d have to do is-"

He ducked as a bright green ball of energy was hurled in his direction.

“Nice try, fruitloop, but she’s NOT joining your stupid _revenge_ scheme!”

“That is not your decision to make, boy,” Vlad snapped, launching one back at his young adversary.

Danny rolled his eyes and blocked it with a shield. “Boo. You’re getting _weak_ , old man.”

“Oh, you’d like it if that were the case, wouldn’t you?” he sneered, getting into a fighting stance.

Jazz quickly moved to stand in front of them.

“Wait- hold on a sec! You can’t just say ‘ _oh you’re a half ghost_ ’ and not _explain!_ I demand answers!”

“As do I,” Vlad replied. “How did this happen? I _highly_ doubt you would be stupid enough to walk into an active ghost portal like your brother here.”

“Yeah, she wouldn’t- HEY!”

The girl hugged herself. “It’s difficult to talk about. The short answer is that an ectoplasm powered gun exploded when I tried to use it. It was probably defective.”

Danny took a step closer to her, almost protectively. “Right. But that’s not something you need to talk to _him_ about.”

“On the contrary. As I explained to you when we met, I have _twenty years_ experience of these powers, as well as extensive knowledge on the subject that I have gained through scientific research. You...what? Constructed a little obstacle course to time your flight speeds or something?”

By the way Danny was blushing, Jazz realised he’d hit the nail on the head.

“So, what? You’re gonna help her? With no strings attached? Please. I’m not stupid and neither is she.”

Her brother’s glare was glowing green and angry, but it didn’t escape Jazz’s notice that he’d straightened his posture, almost like he was mirroring Vlad. She got the sense he secretly respected him a lot.

“I just think we could help each other, is all.”

Jazz sighed, her patience starting to wear thin.

“Listen, before all that, could someone please explain to me what the hell a _half_ ghost is? How can someone be half _dead_? That doesn’t make any _sense_!”

“A half ghost is not a fully ectoplasmic entity, nor a fully human being. A hybrid of the two,” Vlad explained patiently. “And I imagine it can happen in a number of ways, under the right circumstances. It may not make sense on paper, but we’re dealing with _ghosts_ here. There’s a lot about the species that we still have yet to explain.” He looked at her seriously. “Half ghosts are an anomaly, yes, but they _are_ possible. I am living proof of that, and it’s _highly_ possible that now, you are too.” 

“A…a _hybrid_.” She felt her knees get weak. Fortunately, Danny was there to keep her from falling. “A half human, half _ectoplasmic_...hybrid.” She fell silent for a long moment, feeling a little numb. “I…wow. I can’t even be _dead_ right.”

Despite the situation, Danny found himself grinning.

She shot him a glowing orange glare.

“Sorry.” He rubbed his neck. “Anyway, uh, the ghosts prefer the to call us ‘halfas’. ‘Halfa’ human, ‘halfa’ ghost, y’know? I’m still trying to work out if that’s a slur, though.”

Vlad scoffed. “I _highly_ doubt that. They’ve been calling me that for decades.”

“…yeah, it’s a slur.”

“I’ll have you know, I am _highly_ respected!“

Danny smirked, getting a little of his usual smugness back. “Whatever. D’ya really think she's a half ghost?”

The man thought for a moment and slowly circled her, studying her. Jazz hated it immediately. It felt like she was under a microscope.

“I’m...not sure,” he finally admitted. “If I had more time, I’d suggest she take part in a few tests, but as it stands, she could be anything from a half ghost, to a ghost that possessed her body before she died, to…well, I don’t suppose we can rule out the possibility that she’s a ghost that thinks she’s still alive, either…”

Jazz massaged her forehead. “I think we’re going to be here a while.”

\---

On Jazz's insistence, Vlad had agreed to perform a few short tests to determine what she really was. The first one was hard because it involved demonstrating all of her abilities, and the only ones she could really do on command right now would almost definitely set his lab on fire. Fortunately, she had a list of every ability that had shown up by accident so far. While she couldn’t demonstrate any of them, Vlad appeared to take her word for it.

Most of her abilities so far appeared to be pretty standard for a ghost, so that didn’t narrow it down very much. Her body frequently flickered in visibility, so it was clear to her that she could probably turn invisible at will if she practiced. She could also conjure and unleash ectoplasm like he and Danny could. Her ectoplasmic blasts were hotter and more like balls of fire, but that was apparently pretty normal for ghosts with fire-based powers. Both Danny and Vlad could confirm this based on their own ghostly encounters.

The portal creation ability was new, though, and so far was the only thing making them hesitate in a diagnosis. Neither had seen anything like it, not even Vlad, who looked particularly excited about the concept.

Jazz decided not to tell them about the form with floating blue hair that had appeared the day of her accident. She wasn’t really sure herself what that was yet and she was still hoping she and Dash had hallucinated it out of shock.

Speaking of Dash, she decided she wasn’t going to tell him what she was quite yet. She didn’t even know for sure that she _was_ a half ghost. She still wasn’t entirely convinced they were possible, despite all the evidence. Overall, the entire topic made her brain hurt.

After she got back from the lab, she decided to get her mind off things by tutoring the quarterback. She figured she needed a little normalcy right now. However, there was a problem with that plan.

Said quarterback was nowhere to be found.

She tried to search every room she could, but this was a big building. It started to get dark before she even realised it.

She’d just been about to turn back and head to her temporary bedroom, when she heard something from the kitchen. Something _impossible._

It was Dash. Singing. At like, 1am.

The noise was followed up by something that sounded like sizzling. Curiosity taking over for the second time that day, she pushed open the door.

“Dash?” She looked up at him. “What the are you doing in here?”

“When I can’t sleep, sometimes I bake,” he explained, smiling at her. “Oh I see you got the fire to stop! Nice!” He rolled a rolling pin over a big slab of dough and scratched his cheek, accidentally sprinkling it with flour. “You figured it out on your own?”

“You could say that.” She walked over and brushed a gentle hand over his cheek to shed some of the flour. “You look like a mess.”

“Maybe, but my cookies are _legendary_.” His gaze lingered on hers for a moment, and then he turned back to his rolling pin.

“You’re making cookies?” She peered through the window of the oven. There were indeed cookies in there.

“Mhm. If you help, you can share ‘em with me?” He winked.

Finally, she grinned back. “I'd love to. Though you’ll have to tell me what to do. I don’t bake a lot.”

His eyes lit up almost immediately. “Oh, lemme show you! It’s real easy! I’ve made ‘em for my mom, like, a _gazillion_ times.”

“For your mom? Really?” She knew he and his mother were probably close, but it hadn’t occurred to her that he would do things like this for her. How sweet!

He nodded. “Just you wait, Fenton. I'm gonna blow your mind.”

Her mood lifted, she picked up a spare apron and rolled up her sleeves. “Okay, I'm officially excited. Let’s _do_ this!”

\---

Well, he hadn’t been wrong about the cookies. By the time it was time for them to go on the Sunday, Jazz had eaten far more of them than she really wanted to admit to.

As they were about to board the Fenton RV, Jazz was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

“Jasmine, a word?”

Oh no, had he reached any results in his research on what she was? Or was he going to threaten her because she knew too much about him now? Her stomach twisting into knots, she stepped aside as everyone else entered and turned to face him.

“I won’t tell anyone your secret as long as you don’t reveal mine or Danny’s,” she confirmed quietly.

“Much appreciated, but that isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.” He clasped his hands together seriously. “My dear, as you may recall, yesterday, I made you an offer.”

She frowned. “I remember you making a lot of _threats,_ if that’s what you’re referring to.”

“Ah, well, you found my secret lab, so I was a bit on edge,” he explained smoothly, though his narrowed eyes suggested he was anything but apologetic for his reaction. “I'm sure you can understand.”

“Right,” she replied. Her voice was light, but she had a tactical glint to her eyes. She’d seen that side to him now. He couldn’t fool her so easily with the Uncle Vlad act anymore. “So what deal are you referring to?”

He pressed a card into her hand.

“If you ever decide you’d like some formal training from an experienced half ghost, give me a call. Perhaps you can help me in return some day."

She studied his face for a moment. He certainly _looked_ genuine, but she was concerned what this ‘help' would be. She didn’t trust him. He was being vague on purpose.

“I'll...think about it. Thank you, Mr Masters.”

“VLADDIE!!!” Someone suddenly pulled Vlad into a bear hug.

Vlad winced and glared at him. “...hello, Jack,” he said through his teeth.

Jazz hurried onto the RV, grateful for the distraction.

“What'd that creep want?” Dash asked as she took her seat next to him.

“It’s…complicated.” She tilted her head. “Wait, you don’t like him? He loves football. I figured you’d get along easily.”

“Nah, hating him is about the only thing me and Dash agree on,” Danny added, chuckling. “What was it you said, he's a fish in a...?”

“Nah, I said he's an eel in a business suit. He pretends he’s hot shit, but an eel is still an eel. Creepy old eel man.”

Danny cracked up. “That's the best description of him I’ve ever heard. I’m gonna use that.”

“Don’t you dare,” Jazz reprimanded, though it was hard to be strict when she sounded so amused.

“First time we met, I called him a crazed up fruitloop,” he continued. “To his face. He didn’t take that too well for some reason.” He shrugged dramatically.

Jazz bit the inside of her cheek, but Dash didn’t have so much restraint. She had to put a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter, but now Danny was laughing too and it was contagious.

“Qu-quiet!” she managed to say through her giggles. “What if he or Dad _hear_ us? We’re gonna get in so much trouble!”

“Sometimes it’s worth getting into a little trouble,” Danny replied with a grin.

Jazz couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of trouble she would be getting herself into now that she was probably a different species. Surely it wouldn’t be too bad, right?

...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of really fun things set to happen after this chapter! I'm really excited to share it all with you! I hope you look forward to it! :D


	4. My Brother's Keeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz is in a good mood! School is open again, her grades are excellent, she's really starting to make friends with Dash...so it only stands to reason something would go horribly, horribly wrong. Maybe she should talk to the new school therapist about it. What was her name, again? Ms Spectra? Surely she'll make her feel better about everything! What could go wrong?

Jazz smiled brightly as she trotted down the school hall that Monday morning. The sun was shining outside, her test results were flawless as ever and she’d finally gotten her entire body to stay visible for more than a few hours! The school had just finished a half-term break, so this was her first day back. She was really looking forward to enjoying some sweet normalcy, even if it was for just a few hours! Nothing could kill her mood today, not even the burn she’d gotten on her arm from the latest insane Fenton invention! Life was good! She hummed a cheerful tune as she opened her locker.

“Okay, you’re almost… _suspiciously_ cheerful today,” Danny commented, walking past with his friends. “You know we don’t get another break for ages, right?”

“I know, but I’m still excited to be back,” she replied, taking a book out of her locker. “We get to see our friends every day again! Isn’t that worth celebrating a bit?”

“But you don’t _have_ any friends,” Tucker replied.

“I-I do _too!”_

“Mr Lancer doesn’t count,” Danny replied, smirking.

Jazz huffed. “I so _do_ have friends! I’ve got…” She looked up as she heard a group of jocks suddenly start laughing. She smiled a little and waved. “Hey!”

“Oh, hey Jazz!” He raised a hand and grinned back at her. 

One of his friends made another joke and he started laughing again. Jazz rolled her eyes. Jocks.

“You’re friends with _Dash?”_ Sam stared at her. “You know he beats Danny up, like, _every day,_ right?”

“I know. It’s terrible and I do _not_ condone it. I keep meaning to talk to him about that.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if you could call us friends, but I _have_ been tutoring him. He’s helping me prove a thesis.”

“You liked him enough to invite him to _Vlad’s_ and tell your secret to,” Danny replied, crossing his arms. “Who’s side are you _on_ , anyway?”

“Hey! I didn’t _plan_ for him to find out! It’s not _my_ fault he was there!” Suddenly her eyes widened, her gaze shifting from Tucker to Sam in quick succession. “I m-mean, um, I don’t have any secrets! I’m an open book! AHAHAHA!”

The friends shared concerned glances.

“It’s cool, Jazz,” Danny explained. “They know. I told them the day I found out.”

“O-oh?” Her voice gained a higher pitch and she instinctively hid her hand in the pocket of the hoodie she was wearing. A common pattern she’d discovered is that it always went invisible when she was feeling really strong emotions about something. “You told them…my _deepest darkest secret_?” She smiled a wide, stiff smile. 

Compartmentalise, Jazz. Compartmentalise. You’re going to have a great, totally normal day today. It’s going to be _great_.

“Yeah, that’s okay, right?” Danny tilted his head. “I mean I trust them with _my_ secret. They’re not gonna tell anyone.”

“Right right right, cool cool cool, totally cool, the more the merrier, right? Yup, super cool. Really cool.” She clapped her hands. “HEY, did you hear it’s taco day in the cafeteria today? That’s so cool! I’m super hyped! It’ll be nice to eat some meat that _won’t_ try to eat us first, amiright?” She grinned and shoved her brother’s arm in a way that was probably intended to be playful. “Right! Well! I should prepare for class! See you later, Danny! I hope you have a cool day!”

Danny frowned, watching his sister walk back down the hall. “I don’t think I’ve… _ever_ heard her say the word ‘cool’ so many times before.”

“Does Jazz even _like_ tacos?” Sam asked.

“I…honestly have no idea.”

\---

Jazz’s classes were going _great_ so far! She’d sat through almost two periods already and her freaky powers hadn’t activated even once! These classes were going by so fast, especially since they were both being taught by Mr Lancer, who was her favourite teacher. He had seemed really pleased with all the extra credit papers she’d handed to him before class started. She was all but _guaranteed_ a raise in her grade! But why did he keep asking her if she was okay?

As the bell rang and she made to leave for her next period, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

“Miss Fenton. A word?”

“Yes, Mr Lancer?” She turned around to face him. “Was there something wrong with my extra credit work?”

“No, not at all, but…” The man frowned at her. “Is everything alright? You seem…troubled.”

“Troubled? _Me_?” She laughed. “No, I’m fine! A little disoriented being back, maybe, but isn’t everyone?”

His forehead creased. “Earlier, when I asked you to present your argument to the class, you seemed to…panic. Why is that?”

“Oh, no reason! I was just underprepared, is all.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I’m fine.”

“…Not only that, you didn’t raise your hand once in the _two hours_. It’s usually difficult to get you to _stop_ raising your hand. I know shyness can’t be the problem, as you’ve always excelled at public speaking. _Enjoyed_ it, even. Is there something going on?”

“Nope!” She smiled brightly. “I’m the same Jazz Fenton I always am! I’ve never been better!” She shook his hand off her shoulder. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to be late for my next period.”

His brows furrowed. “Actually…I was hoping you could spend next period with our new student therapist. She came highly recommended, and I’m sure she would be able to help you.”

“A…a therapist?” For the first time, her smile slipped. “But I’m a psychologist. If there was something _actually_ wrong with me, I’d know.”

“Perhaps. You do have a lot of knowledge on the subject.” He crossed his arms. “But even so, it can be difficult to accurately analyse your own feelings. Even if you really _are_ just disoriented, surely it wouldn’t hurt just to have a talk with her?”

“I…I guess not.” She forced another stiff smile. “Alright. I’ll talk to her, if only so I can learn from a real fully licensed therapist.”

“That’s the spirit!” He grinned. “You’ll find her in the office next to mine. I know confidentiality is important, so I’ll tell your next teacher you were helping me with something. Nobody has to know about this if you don’t want them to.”

Her smile softened a little. Lancer was good guy. She supposed she owed it to him to at least _try_ to talk to the therapist. 

“…thank you,” she finally said. “I’ll be sure to give you a detailed report on how effective her technique is.”

He chuckled. “There’s really no need for that.”

\---

“ _Dr Penelope Spectra_ , huh?” she muttered, reading the name on the door. “…weird name, but okay.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s _that_ weird.”

“Augh!!” Feeling her cheeks burn, she jolted and spun around to find a woman stood behind her, a coffee in her hand. “M-Miss Spectra!” 

“And who might _you_ be?” she asked cheerfully, shifting her sunglasses down to look at the teenager properly.

“Jazz Fenton!” she replied, putting a hand to her neck. Why was she sweating? It wasn’t _that_ hot in the hall. “I wondered if we could talk? Mr Lancer said it would be okay.”

“Oh of _course_!” The woman smiled brightly and unlocked the door. “Please come in. I apologise that the room is a bit empty. I’m still having my things brought in.”

“It doesn’t look too empty to me,” Jazz replied as she followed her inside. It looked pretty standard for an office. Bookshelves across the back wall, a desk with a computer on it, and…a _drama couch?_ Not seeing any other chairs, she took a seat on it. “Also, before we start, I should let you know that I don’t actually need any help. I came because Mr Lancer was worried and I wanted to assuage his concerns.”

“Oh, are you sure?” She took a seat and steepled her fingers together. “He told me a little about you. Your parents are ghost hunters, right? I don’t imagine you had a very _normal_ childhood.”

Jazz tensed. “It was…okay. They’re good parents. But I don’t see what that has to do with my-“

“Growing up with parents _that_ obsessed with something so weird, no _wonder_ you feel the need to pretend you’re the one that came out normal.” She took out a compact mirror and started looking at her reflection. “Do you think your obsession with being the best in everything you do is in an effort to distance yourself from your crackpot family?” She hummed. “Or…have you just been making an active effort to do that more _recently_?”

“H-HEY! They’re not…” She hesitated. “Okay, _fine_ , they’re crackpots that care more about ghosts than their own kids. I know that.” She placed her hands in her lap, looking at the woman seriously. 

She could at least _look_ at her patient while she was talking to her. What kind of therapist _was_ this?

“I’m not a _stranger_ to that,” she continued. “I’ve had to deal with that since my brother Danny was born and I had to protect him from their crazy shenanigans. We’re not a _normal_ family. But…it’s fine. I’m used to it. I’m used to them letting me down and putting myself and my brother in danger. But!” She straightened up. “Their parenting might not be normal, but it is to _me_. I have no reason to be acting any differently towards them than usual.”

Spectra raised an eyebrow and then nodded her head towards the girl’s hands. Unbeknownst to her, as she’d been talking about her parents, she’d had been rubbing the burn on her arm that the Fenton invention had given her. Wow, okay, Jazz had to give her credit for being able to split her attention between two things. She had eyes like a hawk.

“Being used to their dangerous antics is one thing, but what happens when they actually _hurt_ you?” the therapist asked, putting the mirror down for the moment. “I can’t imagine that burn is the _only_ way they’ve hurt you recently.”

“You’re…making an awful lot of assumptions,” Jazz replied. “Is that normal procedure for a therapy session? I’ve read a lot of books on the subject, and they typically advise _against_ leading questions and immediate diagnosis…”

“Ah, there you are again, trying to avoid your problems by acting like you’re above them!” She chuckled again and took a sip from her coffee cup. She studied Jazz as she drank, her eyes narrowing a little. Jazz felt…uncomfortable.

“I-I’m _not!”_ She crossed her arms. “I just…I just don’t think _fixating_ on them is helping anybody, least of all _me_! I have grades to achieve, things I want to _do_ with my life! I can’t let my parents’ twisted obsession _control_ my life like that!”

“Oh, they really _have_ let you down, haven’t they?” The psychologist leaned forward in her chair, her interest apparently piqued. “How does that make you feel? Depressed? Anxious? All of the above?”

“It…it doesn’t make me feel great,” she admitted, avoiding her eyes. “I’m not myself anymore and I’m not sure I’ll ever be again. And it’s all their fault. Them and their stupid ghost obsession.” She glared at the title beneath her feet, her eyes glowing bright orange and her arms flashing to invisibility for a moment. “They _ruined_ my life and they have _no_ idea because, like _always,_ it’s _me_ that has to be the _actual_ adult and do the responsible thing. If they found out what they’d done to me, they’d feel guilty, sure, but they wouldn’t _stop._ They love ghosts too much.”

Spectra smirked. Now they were getting somewhere.

“What kind of parents put their own desires over their children and their safety? They don’t sound like very good parents to _me_.”

“That’s because…they’re _not_.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “They’re _horrible_ parents and I wish more than anything that I didn’t have to be related to them. They make me genuinely scared for my life, but there’s nothing I can do about it for now except just… _put up_ with it.” She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes. “I’m just…so _tired_. Tired of being angry, tired of all the secrets, tired of being _scared_ all the time. The _one_ thing I could count on was myself, and now…I don’t even know who ‘myself’ _is_ anymore.”

Spectra exhaled, the wrinkles and folds in her face tightening and flattening until she looked significantly younger than she had been. This girl, Jasmine Fenton…she was _brimming_ with misery, and this was only the surface-level stuff! What about what was _underneath_? The teenager wasn’t human, that was clear, and to make matters even _more_ delicious, it seemed she blamed her family for a lot of her misery. She rubbed her hands together. So much to scrutinise, so much to pick apart and drag through the mud. How _wonderful_.

“Jazz?”

“Oh, um, yeah?” She sat up and rubbed her eyes tiredly. She didn’t even bother smiling. It didn’t feel worth it anymore.

“You clearly have a lot to process, so how about you come in later today for another session? Perhaps after school?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed again. “After school is usually when I study.”

“Oh, I suppose that’s important,” Spectra replied, nodding. “And I suppose you have other people you can talk to about this, like your…” She smirked. “Oh, that’s right. You can’t talk to your parents. You’re terrified of them, and I’m willing to bet you don’t trust them very much either. What about friends?”

“If I’m being honest, I don’t really have any friends either, unless you count the guy that bullies my brother and my _actual_ brother that doesn’t respect my feelings.” Her shoulder’s slumped again.

“It’s not good to be so alone,” she replied sympathetically. “With all your excellent grades, all your achievements...you’re _very_ alone, it seems.”

“I…I _am_ alone.” Her breath hitched and she lowered her gaze back down to the floor titles. “Wow, _that’s_ a depressing realisation.”

“It IS, but that’s OKAY!” Jazz looked up as Spectra clapped her hands together enthusiastically. “That just means you’ve got more time to process your feelings in this non-judgemental environment! Won’t THAT be fun?”

**Rrrrrrringgggggg!!!**

Jazz jolted. “That’s the lunch bell. I should get going. But um…” She ran a hand through her hair. “Thanks for talking to me, Miss Spectra. I guess I… _do_ have some things to process. I’ll try to come by after school.”

“Excellent.” She smirked. “See you then.”

Jazz didn’t even bother looking at her as she got up and shuffled glumly outside, nearly slamming into the wall in the process.

As soon as she was gone, a green blob creature appeared from the shadows.

“Was that her?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

“Yep! Oh such _wonderful_ misery.” She laughed. “It’s time to commence phase two of our plan. This is going to be so _fun_!”

\---

Jazz rubbed her eyes. She felt like garbage. She’d thought she’d started to forgive her parents a little, since they seemed to purposefully be giving her space and hadn’t asked too many questions about the explosion, but she supposed it was probably too soon for that. She wished she could talk to Danny about it, but she still felt pretty betrayed by what he’d done. She really _did_ have no-one. 

“Yo, Jazz!”

It was Dash. He was waving at her.

Oh she _really_ wasn’t in the mood for more tutoring right now. What was even the point? She was probably going to die alone because of her parents’ idiocy anyway. There was no point writing thesis papers you weren’t even sure you could finish. She started walking in the other direction.

He frowned. Was she… _ignoring_ him?

“Jazz! Hey!” He walked over. “What’s up? Why are ya ghosting-“ He paused. “Sorry, _ignorin’_ me?”

“I’m not ignoring you,” she replied quietly, continuing to walk. “I just don’t care.”

He tilted his head. “Huh? Did something happen? I thought we were friends?”

“I don’t _have_ any friends. You’re only giving me the time of day because of my accident. You feel bad for me. I’m pathetic.” She laughed, the sound strained. “But honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised. My parents are _crack pots_ and I’m some weird _freak_ they call their daughter. I wouldn’t want to be friends with me either. No wonder I’m all alone.” Her laughter trailed off into weak shaky exhales that sounded dangerously close to crying.

“Woah, woah…” He frowned. “Jazz, I know you’re like super smart and all that, but…literally shut up.” Putting an arm around her, her steered her towards a door to their left. “What are you goin’ on about? I know you’ve been down ‘cause of all the power issues, but you’re not gonna _die alone_.”

“You don’t know that.” She pinned her eyes to the floor.

“Yes I do. Listen, if you think I only like you ‘cause you tutor me or I feel bad for you or whatever, then you’re not as smart as you look.” He scoffed. _“_ Trust me, no amount of guilt or good grades are worth going to a _boring_ old castle in the most _boring_ place on earth for a whole day. Cut yourself some slack.” He hesitated. “I went because… _you_ asked me to. The thing is, I…” He cringed. “God this is gonna sound so _gay_ …”

“What?” She raised an eyebrow. “Also, you should know that using that word in that way is not just offensive but also completely incorrect.”

He grinned. “ _That’s_ the brainiac I’ve come to tolerate for a few hours a week!”

“HEY!” She glared and hit him lightly on the arm.

“Pfft, you hit like a girl.”

“That’s because I _am_ one, _Dashiel.”_

He smirked and headed up the stairs, Jazz following him on purpose now even though she had no idea where they were going. 

“You think my name is _Dashiel?_ What kinda name is _that?”_

She blinked. “You’re telling me your name isn’t actually Dash?”

“Nah, of course not.” He laughed. “When I first joined the football team, I was so fast, everyone just started callin’ me that.” He paused. “Oh dang.”

“What?”

“ _I_ know somethin’ _you_ don’t!” He pumped a fist in the air. “Woo! I _am_ smart!”

She grinned, her first genuine smile that day. “You’re not, but I appreciate the enthusiasm.”

“I should shove you in your locker for that,” he muttered, a warm fondness in his voice, as he pushed open the second door.

Jazz blinked in the sunlight as she followed him through it. “Why are we on the _roof_?”

“You looked down, and usually when you’re down, your powers do stuff, so I thought you’d want some privacy. Nobody comes up here.” He took his jacket off and set it down on the floor.

“Is this even allowed?” She frowned.

“Oh, who cares? I’m the star quarterback and you’ve got the highest grades in the school. No-one’s gonna care. Maybe I should tutor _you_ on how to chill.”

“Oh, ha-ha.” She carefully sat down on the jacket, shifting her position a little to get comfortable and took out her lunch box. He sat down beside her and took out his own lunch. “But anyway, you were saying something about why you came to the castle?”

“Oh, right.” He took a bite of an apple and swallowed. “I went ‘cause _you_ asked me to, genius. You’re dealin’ with so much shit right now. I didn’t want ya to be alone. What if the twerp or the old eel found out about your powers? I wanted to be there to help.” He frowned and looked down. “Look, I’ve been through a lot of tutors, but you’re the first one that doesn’t get mad when I don’t understand stuff, or lie to my face for a spot at the popular table. You’re only helping me for your thesis or whatever, but you _do_ care if I learn the stuff.” He looked her seriously in the eyes. “You _care,_ Jazz. You’ve always cared about _everyone_ , even me. That’s why it kills me so much that I’m the reason you’re so miserable now.”

Her cheeks flushed, but she tried to ignore it. “Your fault?” She took a bite of her sandwich.

“I know you blame your parents, but…I dunno. It was _me_ that gave you the gun thing that exploded. It’s _my_ fault. I haven’t been able to stop thinkin’ about it. You’re upset and you’re hurt because of _my_ dumb mistake. I’ve been so down about it, I haven’t even been able to wail on the nerds like I usually do. The guys think there’s something wrong with me.”

“Dash…” She took his hand gently. “It wasn’t your fault, okay? You didn’t know the weapon was defective when you gave it to me. You couldn’t have known that. It was just a mistake. You were trying to help.” She released his hand so she could take out her water bottle and take a sip of it. “Though, if I may, I don’t think feeling down is the reason you’re having difficulty bullying people now. I think it’s a little deeper than that. I’ve heard of something like this before.”

“What d’ya mean?” He put a hand to his forehead. “Oh no, did the explosion mess me up?”

“No, I don’t think so. If the ectoplasm did anything, you’d know. Trust me.” She smiled a little. “No, I think what happened to me set off kind of an epiphany for you.”

“A…a what?”

“A realisation,” she clarified. “You had no way of knowing the Fenton tech was broken, but it _did_ cause the explosion, so I think…” She took another sip of water. “I think, probably for the first time, you’re realising how your actions could affect others.”

“What?” He smirked, trying to figure out if this was just her way of messing with him. “You’ve gotta be joking. I do think about other people, y’know.”

“I know, but this time I think it’s different. Think about it- you’ve never had to think about consequences before. Like you said, you can disobey the rules all you want, and the school shrugs it off because you’re their star player. You’ve never had to think about the people you bully or the trouble it would cause because it would never usually affect you.”

“I mean, that’s not- I mean I never…” He tensed. “Listen. I like you. Kind of a lot. But what happened to you freaked me the hell out. And now when I try to beat up nerds, all I see is how scared you were the day I gave you that gun and I just…”

“It’s hard to shove a nerd in a locker if your conscience is reminding you how much it could hurt them, right?” Jazz replied, her voice soft and sympathetic. She’d been so caught up in how horrible _she_ felt after the accident, she hadn’t even considered how much Dash himself could have been traumatised by it.

“Yeah.” He shuddered. “How’d you _do_ that? It’s like you can read my mind or somethin’.” He paused. “Wait, that’s not one of your powers, is it?”

“No.” She chuckled. “It’s the power of psychology. It’s a really powerful tool for understanding why people do what they do and why they feel what they feel. It can really help people.”

He balled his hands into fists stressfully. “But _now_ what? Am I never gonna wanna bully people anymore?”

“Maybe, or maybe not. It depends on what you choose to do with this information, really.” She shrugged.

“Well _that’s_ helpful.”

“Sorry.” She chuckled. “It’s not my job to tell you how you’re supposed to feel or what you’re supposed to do. Just to help you realise what you _are_ feeling. Where you go from there is up to you.” She shuffled a little closer to him. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up, by the way.”

“Yeah, what was that all about?” he asked, grateful for the change in subject. “I’ve never _seen_ you so depressed.”

“I went to see the new school therapist,” she explained. “But she somehow made me feel even worse than before I went in. I guess that can happen when you’re faced with certain uncomfortable truths.” She ran a hand down her face. “This whole half ghost thing has _really_ messed me up.”

“Half ghost?” He opened a packet of carrot slices.

“Oh, right, I didn’t tell you. Vlad Masters is a bit of an expert on ghosts. I told him my situation and he explained to me that I might be a half ghost, a hybrid of ectoplasm and human tissue-”

Dash blinked. “Sorry, you lost me at ‘half ghost’. How can you be _half_ a ghost?”

“I don’t know, but it’s a thing apparently. Ghosts are weird.” She sighed. “I’m somehow both a ghost _and_ a human. _At the same time.”_

“Woah.” He poked her arm, like he wanted to see if she was still tangible. This got a little smile out of her. “Are you sure it’s okay for him to know your secret?”

“It couldn’t be helped. And besides, I doubt my secret will stay secret for very long at this rate.” Her eyes narrowed. “Danny told his friends what I am without asking me. Can you believe it? I feel so betrayed. He gave _me_ crap about _you_ possibly telling someone, but it’s _totally_ _okay_ for him to tell his friends? Does he think I _want_ people to know what I am?”

“Damn.” He frowned. “I mean, I still think being a half ghost is pretty awesome, but I get why you’d wanna keep it a secret. Ghost hunting parents and all that. That’s so not cool.”

“Mhm. But anyway, I don’t want to think about that right now. It just makes me feel angry.” She snapped her cookie in half and held the other piece out to him. “Do you want some? I don’t think I can eat it all.”

“Oh, sure!” He grinned and moved to grab it, but she quickly retracted her arm.

“Oh no you don’t!”

“Huh?” He blinked owlishly at her. Jazz could have laughed at how much it looked like he was wracking his brain to figure out what was going on. Oh he was so cute.

She tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “You can have some, but you have to tell me your real name first!”

His face slowly stretched into a grin. “Oh that is _cold,_ fire princess.”

She grinned back. “Oh come on, how can a _fire_ princess be _cold_?”

“ _You_ tell _me_ , fire princess!” He lunged for the piece of cookie.

Giggling, she turned her arm invisible and watched as he missed her and fell flat on his face. 

“HA!” Arm visible again, she held the cookie piece above her head. “It’s what you get for CHEATI-oh _gross_! The crumbs are getting in my _hair_!”

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, he pushed her down onto his jacket and mercilessly tickled her sides.

She shrieked, squirming desperately to break free. “D-DASH! N-no! Have mercy!!!”

“NEVER!” He cackled maniacally. “You think you can offer me snacks and then TAKE THEM _AWAY_?”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA! No!!! STOP!!!”

He leaned up and chomped the cookie piece out of her hand with one bite.

“Mmm. Triple chocolate.”

“AH! That is so _unfair!_ You can’t use your big quarterback muscles! I’m pretty sure that’s _cheating_!”

“Says the girl with ACTUAL ghost powers,” he replied, pulling her into a tight hug.

Jazz huffed through the remains of her giggles, though made no effort to get away from him. She’d never say it out loud, but she really liked his hugs.

“Alas…” she said dramatically once she’d finally stopped laughing. “You know my one true weakness.”

“Yep, the brainiac fire princess is _ticklish_.” He grinned. “What do you know? I _can_ learn things!” 

She rested her cheek against his chest exhaustedly. “Hey, I turned my arm invisible _on purpose_ back there. _I’m_ learning things too! That’s pretty exciting.” 

“Yeah! That was super cool! Shame you couldn’t use it to stop me though.”

“Oh, I’ll get you next tiiiiime…” She squinted in thought. “…Damian? David? Daniel?” She smiled up at him hopefully.

“Pfft. I don’t have your _brother’s_ name,” he replied, smirking. “Why do you wanna know so bad? It’s not like it’s a cool name or anything.”

“I know, but I’m curious! _Please_ tell me? I promise I won’t tell anyone!”

“It’s not a deep dark secret, it’s _fine_.” He chuckled softly. “My name’s Scott. Scott Baxter. But literally no-one calls me that.”

“SCOTT!” She gasped and sat up, bouncing excitedly. “I love it! You LOOK like a Scott!”

“And you look like a Jasmine,” he replied amusedly. “Whatever the hell that means.”

“Why thank you!” She watched as he stood up and dusted himself off. “Oh, you’re leaving already? We’ve still got ten more minutes of lunch left.”

“Yeah, I know, but there’s something I gotta do first.” He looked around awkwardly.

“Oh, um, okay?” She stood up so he could take his jacket. “Good luck!”

“Thanks.” He smiled a little and shook the jacket before putting it back on. “We still on for tutoring today?”

She cursed under her breath. “I’m sorry, I totally forgot. Ms Spectra, the therapist I told you about, wanted to see me after school for another session.”

“But she made you super sad.” He frowned and tilted his head. “Why would you go _back_ there?”

She shrugged. “Therapy can do that sometimes, but it’s in the name of helping. I think I might need this to help me process everything I’ve been dealing with lately.”

He crossed his arms. “Fine, but no more of that ‘I’m gonna die alone’ shit, okay? You’re a hot as hell fire princess and anyone that says otherwise is trippin’.” He nodded seriously.

Jazz giggled. “Thanks, Scott. You too…whatever the hell that means.”

\---

When next period started, Jazz was in much better spirits. Her smile wasn’t even forced as she breezed through her class assignments. They had a substitute teacher today, but he seemed nice and he hadn’t called her up to speak in front of the class like Lancer had, so that did a lot to calm her and her abilities down. 

Once they’d been allowed a break, she got out her phone and found she had one unread message, from Danny no less.

_Hey did you tell Dash my secret? He just spent like 5 mins apologizing for some of the stuff he’s done to me. That wasn’t your secret to tell! Do you know how BAD it would be if anyone ever found out what I am? What WE are?_

Jazz’s hand clenched around her phone. Was…was he serious? On one hand, she was incredibly proud of her quarterback for doing the right thing, but on the other…was Danny _seriously_ accusing her of doing _exactly_ what _he’d_ done to _her_? She felt her face grow hot, sweat dripping down her neck. How DARE he—

“Miss Fenton?”

“Y-yes!” she replied, a little too quickly- _and_ loudly- and forced a big cheerful smile onto her face. “Oh HI Mr Bertrand!”

“Hello.” He placed his arms behind his back, apparently unphased by her, honestly quite alarming, behaviour. “I wanted to talk to you about your grades.”

“My grades?” She raised her eyebrows. “Oh! Did the schoolboard finally agree to let us use the UK letter grade system that gives a grade _above_ A?”

“Uh…no.” He gave her a strange look for a moment, and then shook his head. “No, to put it bluntly…you’re failing this class.”

She laughed a little. “I-I’m sorry, I think I misheard you. It sounded like you said I was…failing.”

“Yes, Ms Fenton. You’re failing this class. Your grade has been dropping for quite a while now.”

“Wh-how could I be **FAILING**?!”

She winced. She’d said that too loud. Now people were whispering. She quickly lowered her voice.

“There must be some kind of _mistake_. I can’t be _failing_! I’m a straight A student.”

“Try straight _D_.” He handed her back some of the classwork she’d finished that period. “I’ve never seen such a shoddy display of structure and understanding in my life. If this is what you present in a class you consider yourself to be _excelling_ in, then I _dread_ to think of what you present in one that you _aren’t_.”

She looked down at the sheets of paper, skimming the contents. There was so much pen, so many things he’d crossed out. She’d never _seen_ so much red pen. She swallowed hard. It was getting a little hard to breathe.

“I…I see,” she replied, her voice shriller than normal. “I’ll…I’ll review my technique. I’m so sorry.”

“See to it that it never happens again,” he replied. “Or you I’ll have to push you down to the lower class.”

“The…the _lower_ …?” She stiffened. This couldn’t be right. This couldn’t be happening. It _couldn’t_ be. Her essay technique was _flawless_. But substitute or not, he was still a teacher. Surely he knew what he was talking about? Oh no, what if, all this time she’d thought she’d been doing so well in class, she’d actually been…?

Her breath hitched, this time for an unrelated reason. 

There was a hot, bubbling sensation growing in her chest.

The last time she’d felt that, it was after the accident, when she was trying to create those fire balls. Something was happening, something _bad_. She abruptly stood up.

“Ca-can I be excused?” She could feel her body start to flicker, like the flame of a candle.

If the teacher noticed, he didn’t react very much. “Alright, but if you take too long, I’m taking it off your grade.”

“R-right! Thank you!” Not even taking the time to grab her bag, she dashed out of the room.

\---

“Oh that was a close one,” she whispered, making her way to the girls’ bathroom. She needed to see what was happening to her. She felt light, but she wasn’t floating. Heat was flowing through her body, but she felt that _every_ time she used her powers. “Calm down, Jazz, calm down,” she told herself, pushing the bathroom door open. “It probably isn’t even that bad. You’re fine. You’re totally fine. Totally, absolutely--“ Her eyes widened as her gaze travelled to the bathroom mirror. There was something wrong with her reflection. 

She didn’t have one.

“AAAAAAUGHHHH!!!!” 

She quickly put her hands over her mouth. Right. Right. She couldn’t draw attention to herself. This was bad this was bad this was so so- _no_ , she couldn’t think like that. It was fine. It was fine. She was fine. Maybe she could turn visible again if she tried really hard! She’d done it before, even though it was just her arm! She was sure she could do it again! She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She could do this. She probably just had to imagine what her body looked like and she’d go back to normal. Easy! And besides, Danny turned invisible all the time. If he could do it, so could she. She’d be back to herself in no time. She probably already was, and she was panicking over nothing. She really had to learn not to freak out so much. Everything was probably…

She opened her eyes again.

Dammit. Still invisible.

“I’ve gotta get help.” She began pacing stressfully. But who could she call? Danny was in class and she was mad at him anyway, Dash was in class and there was no guarantee he could even help her. She made a frustrated noise. It wasn’t like she knew any _ghosts_ that could-

She snapped her fingers.

Vlad Masters. 

She quickly got her phone out of where she assumed her pocket was and called the number he’d given her. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too busy. There was no-one else she could really turn to.

_“Hello, this is Vlad Masters. To whom am I speaking to?”_

She blinked. No secretary? It must have been his personal number then. Whatever, she didn’t have time to speculate about this now. Her grades and her secret were at stake!

“VLAD!” She tightened her hold on her phone. It was the only thing visible in her reflection. She really didn’t like this. “It’s Jazz. I’ve got an emergency.” 

_“Why hello Jasmine,”_ he replied, his voice pleasant and calm. Jazz would never admit it, but it was already helping to calm her down. _“To what do I owe the pleasure? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”_

“I-I AM! But b-but everything’s going _wrong_! My grades, my brother, my—” She shook her head. “Look, never mind, look, my body went _invisible_ for NO reason and now I’m STUCK like this! You have to help me! I don’t know who else to turn to and if I don’t deal with this _soon_ , I’ll FLUNK one of my classes! I can’t FLUNK! Yale doesn’t accept FLUNKERS!!!”

Vlad hummed. _“Well first thing’s first, please try to calm down, my dear. Your powers aren’t just a part of you, they ARE you. If you panic, so do your powers.”_

“R-right. Right. That makes sense.” She shut her eyes and forced herself to take slow, even breaths. “I was doing so _well_ until Danny—" She took a shaky breath. “Nope. Getting angry won’t help either.”

_“…Oh? What did Daniel do?”_

She frowned. “I know you and my brother don’t really get along, but you could at least _pretend_ not to sound so happy about that.”

_“My apologies. Please continue.”_

She sighed. “It’s not a big deal. He accused me of telling Dash his secret, but he said this after he told his own friends _mine_ without asking me. It’s just very hypocritical. He has a lot of nerve.”

 _“Oh, Jasmine, I’m_ so _sorry. I know_ I _never would have-“_

“You have a secret lab under your house and your nemesis is a fourteen-year-old boy. You _really_ don’t get to have the high-ground here.”

 _“That’s…a matter of perspective,”_ he replied coldly. _“I really don’t have to help you, you know.”_

She gasped. “No, no, PLEASE help me, Mr Masters! I’m sorry! I’m just dealing with a lot and-”

 _“Alright, apology accepted.”_ He sounded kind of amused. She wanted to kind of punch him in the face. _“Anyhow, what you really need to do right now is to focus. How is your visibility now?”_

“Still non-existent.” She made a sound that was equal parts upset and frustrated. “I’ve been trying to focus on what I’m supposed to look like and it _isn’t working_! Maybe this is a mental health thing? I’ve been feeling a bit…unlike myself lately. Maybe my powers are responding to that. Or…are unresponsive _because_ of that.”

Vlad hummed. _“Possibly. Well, you had somewhat of the right idea, but Jasmine Fenton is more than just her physical appearance. Perhaps think about who she is as a person.”_

“Jazz…as a person.” Her eyes moved down to her shadow, which was thankfully still there. “Jasmine Willow Fenton. Sixteen years of age. Born in Amity Park. I’m…okay, I guess I should be more specific. I’m a straight A student with an avid interest in psychology and the profession of therapy…“

 _“Why_ are _you so interested in psychology and therapy?”_ Vlad asked curiously. _“It seems like an odd interest for a sixteen year old.”_

“It’s because the human brain is _fascinating_.” She grinned. “The why’s and how’s of why we do what we do and why we think what we think is so incredibly complex! And…I don’t know, the idea of using all that knowledge to help people to better their lives is…well, it’s always been a dream of mine. My biggest strength is my brain, so I’d like to use it for something good.” She felt her stomach drop and her chest get hot again as her body flickered to visibility. She gasped, putting a hand to her face. “Oh, wow, it- it _worked!_ I’m ME again! Or at least, I _look_ like me again! It WORKED!”

“ _Congratulations_ , my girl,” Vlad replied warmly. _“Though, would you like some advice?”_

“Yeah?”

 _“Keep in mind what I told you about your powers. They aren’t independent of you. Like it or not, they ARE you- just as much_ you _as the face you see in the mirror every day. Learn to accept that, and it will be far easier for you to control them.”_

Her smile fell. “I…I’m not sure if I can do that.” She studied her face in the mirror, touching it lightly like she was checking it wasn’t a mirage. “But I’ll try. Thank you, Vlad. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

_“Anytime, my dear. Anytime. Now, I really must be going. Do let me know if you make any more progress in your abilities.”_

“Not likely,” she muttered to herself once she hung up. “I don’t trust you one bit, eel in a business suit.”

As she walked out of the bathroom, she could swear she saw a second, sharper shadow following her, but when she checked again, it was gone.

\---

After her final class of the day had ended, Jazz was surprised to see someone familiar standing by the door as she put away her things. She tilted her head and offered him a half-hearted wave.

He waved back, smiling shyly. 

“Oooh, Miss Perfect bagged herself a _quarterback_!” the boy that sat behind her whispered excitedly.

“I-I did _not!”_ Jazz crossed her arms. “We’re just friends.”

“Hon, please,” another student replied, smirking smugly. “The only guys that wait for girls outside their classes are usually dating them.”

“Yeah, or they’re into them,” the boy added matter-of-factly

“W-what?” She looked over at Dash, but when they made eye contact again, she quickly looked away. “That…can’t be a thing. If it is, I’ve never seen it before.”

“Uh, yeah, because all you usually look at are _books_.”

Jazz frowned. Maybe this loneliness she’d been feeling _hadn’t_ been entirely her parents’ fault. It was true that prior to the accident, she hadn’t made a lot of effort to socialise with her peers unless she was trying to help them with their problems. The pursuit of knowledge always felt a lot more worthwhile than…what did teens normally do? Get pizza?

“I’m sorry. I know I care a bit too much about books sometimes, it’s just that my grades are really important to me.” She ran her fingers through her hair self-consciously and stood up. “I’m sorry if it seemed like I don’t care about everyone.”

The girl that had called her ‘hon’ stood up and held a piece of paper out to her. “Well look…if you wanna give studying a break for a bit, I’m having a party on Saturday. Come have fun for once.”

“Um…” She hesitated for a moment and then carefully took the invitation. She didn’t really like parties. She’d rather spend her time studying. But if there was a chance she’d get to know her classmates better or even make friends, she’s take it. “Thank you. But why?”

“Because even _nerds_ need a break sometimes.“ The girl nudged her playfully.

“Um, thank you! I…think.” She raised an eyebrow. “Wait, this says plus ones are _compulsory_.”

“Yup! Bring the quarterback.” She winked.

“O-oh, I don’t know if he would even…”

“Is he a good kisser?” someone else chimed in.

“Oh my god.” She shoved the invite in her bag. “Alright, I’m leaving now.”

“Byeeeeeee!” The girl waved enthusiastically. “Tell him you like his _muscles_! Guys _love_ that!”

Jazz huffed and rushed to the door. 

“What’s up with you?” Dash immediately asked, oblivious. “Your face is all red. Is that like a ghost thing, or…?”

“ _Scott_!” she glared at him. “What are you _doing_ here?”

“Oh, um, I wanted to walk you to Spectra’s. Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you?”

“No!” She shook her head aggressively and started down the hall. “No. My classmates were just…they were just being ridiculous. It doesn’t matter. Isn’t after school usually football practice? You’ll be late.”

“Oh, I know, but it’s cool. My buddy Kwan’s covering for me.” He shrugged. “I just wanted to see this Spectra chick for myself. I’ve got a bad feeling about her.”

“You’ve never even met her.”

“I know, but…I dunno. I was thinkin’ about it, and-“

“Oh, HI THERE, Jazz!!”

“AAAHHHH!”

The teenagers instinctively took the other’s hand.

“M-Miss Spectra!” Jazz quickly cleared her throat and straightened up as the woman moved to stand in front of them. “I was just on my way to see you!”

“I’ve been looking forward to it.” Spectra smirked, noting their joined hands. “Oh, who’s _this_?”

“Dash Baxter,” the quarterback replied, tightening his hold on Jazz’s hand a little. “Why’d you wanna know?”

“Oh, well it’s just, you seem rather close with my patient here.” She began to walk around them in a slow circle, not unlike a shark. “Are you dating, perhaps? You aren’t in the same social circles as Jazz at _all_ , which means…” She folded her hand into a finger gun and pointed it at him. “You’re helping her. You’re dumb, but you’re useful. She’s probably tutoring you as a way to fast-track her way into college. It’s the only reason someone as smart as her could tolerate someone as long as she’s tolerated _you_.”

Jazz lowered her eyes. “Well that’s not _entirely_ true…” She moved her free hand up to fan her face. Why was it so hot out here all of a sudden?

“I mean _look_ at him!” She laughed. “How’s tutoring him going? Just _how much_ have you had to dumb things down for him?” She hummed. “Your intelligence is all you really have. Do you _really_ want to jeopardize that for a jock that doesn’t even _care_?”

“H-he _does_ care!” she defended, starting to get a little angry. “He’s been trying really hard!”

“Oh, sweetie…” She tutted, shaking her head sympathetically. “You know he’s only _pretending_ he cares because you’re _pretty_ , right? As soon as Paulina’s single again, you’ll be lucky if he remembers your _name_. Trust me, you’re better off alone.”

“I don’t…” She looked up at him, at his large jock muscles and his letterman jacket, and her shoulders sunk, along with her heart. “I don’t know. Maybe that _will_ happen. I don’t know.” She offered him a sad smile. “But if it does, then…then I’m glad I got to meet you, Scott.”

He inhaled sharply and abruptly let go of her hand. “ _No_.”

“…no?” Her expression fell. “I…I don’t understand.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Of course you don’t. But that’s not _your_ fault.” He turned to the therapist, his glare sharper and angrier than it had ever been. “ _Listen_ , lady. I don’t know _what_ you think you’re doin’, but you need to _stop_.”

“Oh?” The woman raised an eyebrow, though continued to smirk. “Stop what? I’m just trying to help my patient. It’s what us therapists _do_.”

“She’s just doing her job,” Jazz replied. “Why are you getting so mad?”

“Because she ISN’T!” He turned to Jazz and put his hands on her shoulders. “Before, you told me therapy is supposed to help people _._ How much _helping_ has she done so far, huh? Can you _seriously_ tell me what you talked about with her made you feel _any_ better?”

“Well, no, but…” She frowned. “…now that you mention it, I _did_ find her technique to be rather odd. But she’s fully licensed. She knows what she’s doing.”

“Oh, I’m sure she _does_.” He turned back to Spectra, just so he could glare at her again. “I’ve met people like her before, Jazz. She’s smart, but, like, in a bad way. She takes the little things she knows about you and pushes on it and pushes on it until you’re so miserable, you _have_ to agree because you don’t even remember what’s real and what isn’t anymore.” He straightened up, a subconscious effort to look bigger and more threatening. “It’s to make your self-worth so LOW that you can never stand up against them. It’s a tactic that’s super hard to break away from.” He turned his head to look at his friend, his gaze softening. “My dad was just like her. It took me _way_ too long to realise what was happening and call him out on his bullshit.” He took both her hands, his eyes staring into hers pleadingly. “ _Please_ , Jazz. You can’t let her do that to _you_ too.”

Her frown wavered and she took a step away from him.

“But Scott, what you’re describing, it’s…it’s…” Her gaze drifted back to Spectra, who, upon making eye contact with her, started…laughing.

Her hands slowly balled into fists and, for the first time, she decided to look at Spectra- _really_ look at her. She was being accused of, well, borderline mental and emotional _abuse_ , but she really didn’t seem concerned. She could lose her job over accusations like these, but her body language was extraordinarily relaxed. 

The therapist in question shifted her glasses further up her nose. “Oh, I’ve _heard_ about you, Dash Baxter,” she finally said, her voice seeped in syrup. “You’re captain of the football team, but you’re stuck with the fourteen year olds _again_ because, oh, guess what? You _still_ aren’t good enough! Isn’t that right? I wonder if you’ll _ever_ be good enough? For _anyone_? You _certainly_ were never good enough for your _daddy_.”

“I-I-“ Dash’s expression wavered.

“Oh my gosh, you’re… _right_ ,” Jazz said quietly, a little disbelief making its’ way into her tone.

Dash stared at her for a moment, a look of betrayal crossing his features. “Are you seriously siding with the-“

She turned back to Spectra, moving into a stiff, aggressive stance. “He’s _right_ about you.”

“Oh hoh?” Spectra leaned a little closer to them, her eyes narrowing coldly.

Jazz glared at her back, standing her ground.

“How you’re acting, how you’re reacting to what we’re saying…it isn’t _normal_. Therapists do _not_ act this way. No therapist should take _joy_ in making their clients _miserable_.”

She felt her chest begin to bubble like a boiling pot, getting hotter and hotter. She was so angry, so ashamed she hadn’t seen it coming, that she made no attempt to hide her abilities. Something was coming, and she hoped it could _burn_.

Scott was right. This woman, whoever she was, didn’t get to make people feel this way. It wasn’t okay and it _wasn’t_ therapy. She didn’t have the right to treat people like this.

Her eyes began to glow a very dark orange as they trained themselves on the therapist. She raised her hands.

“I can _never_ forgive someone that uses psychology to cause _harm_. How DARE YOU-”

“Hey, _fire princess_ …” Dash suddenly hissed, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re kinda outing yourself here…”

Her eyes widened, but it was too late. Both her eyes and her hands were glowing brightly by now. She wouldn’t be able to put them out before Spectra noticed.

Spectra stared at her for a moment and then, slowly, her expression stretched into a wide, menacing smile.

The hall had never been quieter as the two women stared each other down.

The silence was finally broken by Dash, who’d finally figured out what Jazz had, only a second before.

“Oh, WOAH! She’s…she’s a…”

“-she’s a _ghost_ ,” Jazz finished for him, her eyes narrowing once again.

“Very _good_ , you two!” She clapped her hands, the sound slow and condescending. “Maybe you _are_ good together! You share a _single_ braincell!” 

“Who ARE you?” She balled her hands, quenching the flames.

“My name is Spectra, but you knew that already.” She chuckled. “I won’t show you my true form because, well, I don’t _need_ to. I know you won’t be fighting me.”

“Then you don’t know me AT ALL!” She darted towards her, fist raised.

“Ah ah _ah_!” She laughed again and snapped her fingers. “Betrand, if you please.”

“ _What_? BertraaaaAAAAAAA…… _ugh_ …” She fell to her knees, her energy suddenly completely gone. Her eyes returned to their usual blue.

The substitute teacher from earlier emerged from the shadows, glowing with bright green light.

“Recognise him? He’s been keeping an eye on you for me.”

The false teacher waved, smirking cruelly. “Oh, Spectra, you should have seen her _face_ when I told her she was _failing_. It was almost _too_ easy!”

Dash quickly crouched down and helped her stand up. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, I…” She put a hand to her head. “What did you _do_ to me?”

“Ah, see, that’s the most _fun_ part,” the woman replied, circling the teenagers again. “Bertrand here has the ability to suck the misery of others and give it to _me_ for _beautiful_ , flawless skin. It’s particularly useful in my line of work, as you can imagine.” She took a compact mirror out of the pocket of her suit and examined her new youthful complexion with it. “When _you_ came to me, well…I won’t pretend I didn’t get a _little_ excited. You don’t just _have_ misery- you’re _brimming_ with it. Hatred of yourself, hatred of your parents, so _so_ many issues involving your identity. Do you even know who you _are_ anymore?”

Jazz growled. “I’ll stop you. I have powers now. I can stop you from hurting anyone else.”

“Can you?” Her smirk grew.

“YES! And even if _I’m_ not strong enough, my parents’ inventions have to be good for _something_! I’ll stop you, even if I have to ki- well okay I guess _killing_ it off the table, but whatever- even if I have to _obliterate_ you in the process!” She straightened up, looking her dead in the eyes, and held out her hand. “Unless…you agree to a deal.”

“Oh?” She shared a look of amusement with Bertand.

“I won’t hurt that _beautiful_ face you like so much,” Jazz continued seriously. “But in return, you have to agree to go back to The Ghost Zone or wherever it is you came from.”

She stared at the teenager’s outstretched hand for a moment, and then scoffed coldly.

“Oh, no can do, sweetie. You think I can just _disappear_? The school _hired_ me. If I leave, they’ll get suspicious, and, oh, _whoops_ , look who the last person to see her before she left was!” She held up a clipboard displaying session times. The only name on it was Jazz’s. “Getting rid of me would be a _big_ mistake for you. Good luck getting into Yale when you’re under suspicion for _murder_.” Her cruel grin returned as she took in the expression of horror on the girl’s face.

“But that’s not FAIR!” Dash yelled. “You can’t get away with this!”

“Of course I can. Didn’t you know? In real life, the bad guys _always_ win. Trust me, I’m in this for the _long haul_.” She started back down the hall. “Anyhow, I’m bored of you now. I’ll see you next session, Jasmine~!”

All Jazz could do was watch as the therapist and her partner disappeared into their office. 

“Well _that’s_ bullshit,” Dash muttered after a moment. “What are you gonna do?”

“What _can_ I do?” She frowned. “I…I’m not sure how I can win this. She’s right. I can’t fight my way out of this. I need…” She punched her palm with her fist as an idea began forming in her mind. “I need to do what I do best- _research_. If I can find out more about her and how she operates, maybe how she got this job in the first place, then I can take her out _without_ force. I can’t get out of these therapy sessions if she gets Lancer on board with them, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up and let her manipulate me again.” She grinned. “This is just a battle of wits. A battle I’m going to _win_.”

Dash blinked owlishly, and then, slowly, began to grin too. “HELL yeah!” He pumped a fist in the air. “Kick her ass! With…with… _nerd_ _shit_!”

She laughed. “Right. With nerd shit. Excellently put.”

\---

“Yes, the plan is working perfectly,” Spectra said into her phone. “She thinks she’s smart, figuring out I’m a ghost, but she doesn’t suspect _a thing_.” She chuckled. “The sessions _will_ continue, I’ll make sure of it, and you’ll get what you want.”

_“Excellent work, Spectra. I knew sending you to that school would be a good idea.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuun!! Jazz's personal arch-nemesis has ARRIVED!
> 
> Here it is, the chapter I've been eager for you guys to read! It's my personal favourite so far and it sets up a ton of really fun stuff to come! I hope you enjoy it! As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. I read all of them ^_^


	5. Attack of the Killer Garage Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things were starting to look up for Jazz! She'd made a bit more progress with her powers, and although she still had an evil therapist to deal with, meeting Spectra had brought her and Dash a lot closer together. The only problem is, her powers still hadn't stopped freaking out completely, and Danny...well, instead of helping, he's just really getting on her nerves about the whole 'getting closer with Dash' thing.
> 
> Fortunately, her powers, at least, are nothing that a quick trip to the Ghost Zone can't fix! But can Jazz trust her new ghostly guide? Just how much does she know about ghosts and her other half, really?

Jazz tapped the worksheet with the bottom of her ballpoint pen.

“Okay, in algebraic terms,” she began. "A" squared plus "B" squared equals "C" squared, where "C" is the hypotenuse while "A" and "B" are the sides of the triangle. Got it?” She looked up at him.

He nodded, smiling warmly at her. He had his elbow leaned against the kitchen table, propped up by his hand against his cheek. 

With an amused smile, Jazz poked his cheek to get his attention. 

“ _Hey_. You have to _focus_. You’re _disproving_ my thesis that nobody is un-tutorable.”

“Sorry.” He chuckled and sat up. “I guess I’m a bit distracted today.”

“Look, I’m just happy you don’t think algebra is a type of _porn_ anymore,” she teased, putting the pen down.

“Hey, look, I—look, _shut up_ , okay?” His cheeks flushed. “I’m a _jock_. We don’t usually hang with _smart_ girls. You’re hot like a cheerleader but you don’t _act_ like one.”

“Okay, ignoring the total misogyny of that…you think I’m hot?” She tilted her head. 

“Well you could _literally_ burn my face off if you wanted, soooo…”

“Okay, _rude_!” Jazz laughed and shoved his arm. “But, I’m serious. Before the accident, I can understand, but you saw my awful _ghost form_. I had, like, _grey_ skin and weird whispy _fire_ hair.”

“Yeah? I mean yeah it was weird _at first_ , but I got used to it. It doesn’t make ya any less hot to me. Weird ghost Jazz is still _you_.” He leaned back in his chair. “And hey, I haven’t seen a lotta ghosts, but I’d believe ‘em if they said weird ghost Jazz was hot too.”

Jazz laughed, her cheeks burning a little. It was shallow, she knew it was, but hearing that the jock still thought she was pretty, even after all he’d seen, did make her feel a little better.

“I really appreciate that you stuck around, even after all the crazy that’s happened since I started tutoring you. It…it means a lot.” She smiled softly at him, her gaze lingering on his for a moment, and then shook her head. “Though we _have_ to find a better name for my ghost form than…’ _weird ghost Jazz’_.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” He chuckled. “Something to do with your powers, maybe? ‘Cause, I won’t lie, I kinda dig the orange eyes. Orange might be my new favourite colour.”

She felt her heart quicken in pace, but she tried to ignore it, along with her cheeks, which were beginning to grow hotter.

“I don’t know whether to find that _obvious_ attempt at flirting annoying or charming,” Jazz replied, leaning a little closer to him.

“Both is good.” He winked.

“Pfft, you’re such a jock.” Her eyes began to glow orange, though the glow was softer than normal.

“Woah, Jazz, your _eyes_ ,” he whispered, his own widening a little.

“…Yeah?” she replied dreamily. Her chest felt _so_ hot. Wait…

That wasn’t normal, was it?

“AUGH!” She stood up as the book she’d been holding set on fire. “Oh crud oh crud oh crud…” She pat the flames down quickly. The flames were hers, so she wasn’t worried about them burning her, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t burn Dash. “ _Dammit_! I thought I had the fire powers _under control_!”

Dash grabbed a kitchen towel and used it to pat down the flames. “Damn, are you okay? And, uh, the book too, I guess?”

“Yeah.” She exhaled, picking it up. “It’s just a little black on the front now. It’s fine. Oh, and I’m good too.”

The kitchen door slowly creaked shut.

“Wow, I’ve heard of having the _hots_ for someone, but this is _ridiculous_.”

Jazz gasped, quickly sitting up. “Uh, uh, it’s a lie, _I’m not a ghost_!!!” The book started slipping out of her hands, but despite fumbling with it to get a better grip on it, it fell through them anyway.

Danny smirked. “Relax, it’s just me.” He paused on his way to the fridge. “Oh. Dash is here too. _Fun_.”

“Hey Fentonio.” He waved a little.

“ _Fentonio_?” Jazz asked amusedly.

“It’s a habit. I can’t break it. _You_ just set a book on fire. Shut up.”

Jazz giggled.

Danny groaned and rolled his eyes. “You two are so _gross_. Do you even _have_ a life outside my sister, dude?”

“Hey, of course I do! In case you forgot, I scored the _winning_ touchdown in last weekend’s game.” He glared at him. “Ya make it sound like I, like, _like_ math or somethin’.”

“Well, you like _something_ in this room, and I know it’s not _math_ ,” Danny muttered, retrieving a can from the fridge. 

Jazz crossed her arms. “You know, your habit of using sarcasm to hide how you feel isn’t just unhealthy. It’s _annoying_.”

“Yeah? Well I think the _real_ thing that’s unhealthy and annoying is your _choice of friends_.” He popped open the can and took a swig.

The girl made a high-pitched offended noise and stood up, her eyes glowing again, much brighter than they had before. “What is your _problem_?!” 

“I think you _know_ what my problem is. Or is being _besties_ with him slowly killing off your braincells? ‘cause I wouldn’t be surprise-“ 

She aimed an orange ball of flaming ecto-energy at her brother, her expression twisted into a sharp glare.

Danny, completely unphased, just stepped out of the way. The bolt hit the wall and dissipated. 

“That was so weak,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Some half ghost _you_ are. You can’t go five minutes without setting something on fire, but you can’t do _basic_ ghost stuff either. How has _no-one_ figured you out yet?”

Jazz inhaled through her teeth, the sound shallow and shaky like she was recovering from a punch. The fire in her palms fizzled into nothing, but she didn’t break eye contact with him.

Danny watched her reaction, his eyes wide. Crud. He’d gone too far, hadn’t he?

“Jazz, look, I’m sorry, I didn’t really mean-“

“Next time,” she said, her voice quiet, but cold. “The ectobolt _won’t_ miss.”

He took a step back. “What…what are you saying? You wouldn’t seriously… _hurt_ me? I’m your _brother_ , remember?”

“Yeah? Well I wish you’d act like it for once.” She lowered her hands and balled them into fists. “I’ve been through hell since my accident. I don’t sleep anymore, and when I do, I wake up wishing the accident had finished the job. I’ve been trying my best to get a handle on what I am now and I’ve been trying my best to master these new abilities.”

Danny flinched. He’d never heard his sister sound so cold and…emotionless. It wasn’t like her at all.

“I know, Jazz, I didn’t mean to-“

“I’m trying really really hard, but _okay_ ,” she continued, her voice gaining a hard edge. “ _Stay_ mad that my best friend is the guy that used to bully you. _Continue_ to tell whoever you want that I’m a freak now. Do it. I don’t care. Whatever makes _you_ happy. Because _that’s_ all you care about, right? Who gives a damn about _my_ worthless little feelings, right?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Jazz, wait, c’mon, I didn’t mean to-“

Dash, not knowing what else to do, sighed and followed as Jazz walked out of the room.

Danny watched them go, frowning.

\---

“Are you sure about this?” The quarterback asked, shifting his jacket up onto his shoulders.

“Yep! I’m so sick of the Fentons.” She marched down the street with renewed gusto. “I need a break. You _do_ like parties, right? The girl that invited me implied I couldn’t show up without you.”

“Of course I like to party! But…why’d she want _me_ to come? I don’t know anyone from your—hey, _slow down_ , will ya?” He grabbed her hand. “Look, if you don’t chill, your powers are gonna _do_ a thing again!”

“I know! But that’s why people go to parties, right? To chill? Trust me, the plan is _flawless_! Jazz the _ghost_ girl may be a mess, but Jazz the _regular_ girl is still _perfect_!”

“Jazz…” He frowned. “That fight was pretty bad. Maybe partying isn’t such a good idea right now?”

She forced a small smile to reassure him. “It’s fine. I’m fine. You _did_ say I needed to chill, and I don’t go to a lot of parties, so I think this could be fun. Think of it like a…a _date_ or something. You’re my date for this, and we’re going to have fun. It’ll be great.”

He sighed again and squeezed her hand. There really was no getting through to her when she was in denial mode, he was starting to realise.

Smiling sunnily now, Jazz knocked on the door to the house that had been indicated on the invite.

“Hiiiiii!” The girl greeted, holding the door open for them. “I’ve been waiting for you guys! Come in!” She grinned and pat Jazz’s back as she walked past her to get inside. “I _knew_ you’d bring the quarterback! Good job, girl! Go _get_ some!”

“We’re FRIENDS!” Jazz exclaimed. “I _tutor_ him! You’re looking way too much into this. Please stop.”

“Yeah, trust me, there’s _nothing_ goin’ on,” Dash replied, waving a hand dismissively. “I’m not into _nerds_.”

Jazz smirked at him. He was messing with her.

“Yeah? Well _I’m_ not into _jocks_.”

“Then why are you _holding hands_?” the party host teased, shutting the door behind them.

“What? We’re not-“ 

She looked down at their hands. His hand fit so naturally with hers, that she hadn’t even noticed. Feeling her cheeks flushing again and not wanting to take any more chances with fire, she quickly crossed her arms.

“WELCOME to the party!” The girl gestured around the room. “We’ve got beer, boys and bowls of food! Also _punch_!” She giggled. “Upstairs is off-limits and please don’t break anything, but anything else you wanna do is fair game!” She gave her a thumbs up and wandered over to another party guest.

The party was taking place mainly in what looked like a living room. There were tables on one side of the room, covered in various foods and a bowl of punch, as the host had said, and on the other side was a fountain filled with what was probably the beer she’d mentioned. The latter was currently being surrounded by giggling jocks. Dash looked over longingly.

Jazz smiled amusedly at her friend. ”Hey,” she said, patting his arm. “You can have fun. It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?” He frowned. “I don’t wanna leave ya if you’re not feelin’ okay.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll make friends.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Go have drunk shenanigans with your peers.”

“Yessssss!” He grinned and punched a fist in the air. “You’re the _best_. Let me know if you need anything, though, ‘kay?”

She nodded, watching with amusement as he walked over to the other football players. He began joking with them almost immediately. He made friends so easily. Jazz was kind of jealous. 

Not knowing what to really do with herself now that she was alone, she headed over to the punch table and began pouring some into one of the supplied paper cups.

“Hey there!”

“AH!” She barely managed to stop herself from dropping the cup.

The girl, the same one that had greeted them at the door, laughed. “A little jumpy, huh? Is this your first time?”

“Oh, no, I’ve been to parties before, just…they’re usually smaller.” She took a sip of her drink.

“Ha, no, no, I meant the overshadowing thing,” she replied. “You’re _real_ bad at it.”

Jazz nearly choked mid-sip.

“I’m sorry, the wh- _what_ thing?” She recognised that word. Vlad had listed it when he was telling her what powers she could possess as a half ghost. But how did her _classmate_ know that word?

“I mean you chose the daughter of the _ghost hunters_ for starters,” she replied, pouring some punch for herself. “ _Risky_ , much? Hasn’t anyone ever told you to keep a low profile when you’re posing as a human?”

“I’m not—I’m not _posing_ as one! I _am_ one!” Her grip on the cup tightened. “I’m _normal_!”

“Hon, please. I saw you in class. You freaked out over that teacher and went _invisible_ for some reason.” She chugged down the contents of her own cup. “Don’t worry, no-one else saw. I distracted them for you. You’re welcome.”

“You…you _saw_? Her eyes widened. “Is that why you invited me here? To see if I was a _ghost_?” She looked around quickly. “Oh no, I walked into a trap, this is a _trap_ , oh good lord, there’s probably-the government is probably _on its’ way_ , aren’t they?!”

“Hey, hey, _chill_.” The girl put a hand on the redhead’s shoulder. “It’s _fine_. I didn’t invite you here to out you or get you captured or whatever. I just wanted to figure out what your deal is and if you wanted any trouble.”

Jazz shrugged her hand off and took a frightened step back. “I’m not a-I’m not a _ghost_! I’m normal! A normal _human_ girl with normal _human_ powers! And by that I mean _no_ powers! I’m NORMAL!”

Both girls gasped as a ring of orange flames suddenly appeared around Jazz’s torso, accompanied by a loud crackling noise.

“Oh crud oh crud oh crud not _now_!” She tried to shoo the flames away with her hands, but it had no effect. “Why does that keep _happening_?!” 

“Woah, what the _heck_?” The girl stared at her. “What are you _doing_?”

Jazz winced. “It’s…not what it… _looks like…_?” she tried.

“There’s, like, _way_ too many people here. We’ve gotta split. Hold on.” She frowned seriously and grabbed her arm.

“Hey! What are you-“ She shuddered as she felt her entire body turn lighter than air. She recognised this feeling. She was invisible? How did she…? Her eyes widened. “You’re a GHOST?!”

“ _Duh_. Aren’t you supposed to be the know-it-all?” she teased.

“My knowledge on ghosts is _limited,_ okay?!”

She stiffened as the girl began floating them up to the ceiling. As they got closer and closer to it, she squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to hit her head, but was surprised to find her feet touching…solid ground.

“Okay, girl, what _are_ you doing?” the ghost asked, letting go of her.

“Huh?” Jazz hesitantly opened her eyes. They were in a teenager’s bedroom. “D-did we just…go through the _ceiling_?”

The girl whistled and plopped herself down on the bed. “Wow, you’re a _new_ ghost! You’ve seriously never gone _intangible_ before?”

“Intangible…?” She shook her head. “Look, whatever, it doesn’t…” She held out her hands and filled them with flaming energy. “Look--who ARE you? What are you doing overshadowing a human? What’s your evil plot?!”

“ _Evil plot_?” She laughed a little. “You can’t be serious?”

Jazz frowned at her, the fire in her hands burning brighter. 

“Y-you’re…you’re a _ghost_ , aren’t you? Ghosts are evil! You attack people!”

“Some do that, but…eh.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t say we’re _evil_. Most of us just wanna have fun. Like, what _I_ think is fun is pretending to be random humans. My strongest skill in mimicking, so it gives me a chance to practice. But I don’t wanna _hurt_ anyone.”

“Mimicking?” She hesitated for a moment and then sat herself down on the end of the bed. Whatever her powers were doing was seriously draining her energy. She quenched her flames, figuring the ghost probably wasn’t going to attack her right away. There was no sense using up even _more_ energy.

“Yeah! If I’ve watched someone for long enough, I can usually act like them pretty believably. And I’m _amazing_ at copying their voices.” She smiled proudly. “My name’s Copycat, but everyone just calls me ‘Kitty’. Who are you?”

“I’m…” Jazz sighed. “You already know who I am. I’m Jazz Fenton. But I’m not a ghost. I’m…” She ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m part human, part ghost. A…a half ghost, I think. I’m not dead, but I’m not alive either.”

Kitty tilted her head. “So you’re… _not_ a ghost pretending to be a human?” 

“No, I’m…” She huffed. “I’m a human that’s also a ghost. Supposedly I have two forms, a human one and a ghost one.”

“Oh!” Kitty snapped her fingers. “Like Vlad Plasmius!”

“…yes. But I’m not affiliated with him.” She cupped her hands together, smothering any leftover flames. “We’re just the same species now.”

“Oh, good! Trust me, you do _not_ wanna get involved with that guy. Like, you ever noticed he’s kind of a…”

“…a total creep?” Jazz finished for a her, smiling a little. “Yeah. I can’t stand the guy. He’s been helping me, but I know he’s up to something. I can just… _feel_ it, you know?” She touched her chest.

Kitty nodded. “Your core’ll do that sometimes.”

“My…core?”

“Yeah! It’s where our powers come from. Speaking oooof…” She gestured to the rings uselessly surrounding Jazz’s body. “What _is_ this?”

“Heck if I know,” Jazz replied, looking down at them. “They've shown up a lot recently for some reason, but they never actually do anything and they usually disappear after a few seconds.” She frowned. “You didn’t put something in the punch, did you?”

“What? Girl, please.” She scoffed. “You probably just need to go to the Ghost Zone. It usually helps me when I’m feeling sick or whatever. Maybe it’ll help you too.”

“Maybe.” She leaned down and tried blowing on the rings. “Yeah, okay, I don’t know why I thought that would work.”

**Rrrrrrring! Rrrrrringggg!**

“Augh!” Fumbling with her bag, Jazz quickly grabbed her phone. “H-hello?”

_“Fire…girl…hot pr’ncess…”_

Jazz bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling too much. Kitty was already giggling at the drunken affection.

“Hiya Scott. Is everything okay?”

_“I don’ see ya…did’ja get hurt or…who I gotta…beat UP?”_

“Nobody,” she replied amusedly. “I had an emergency with my ghost powers, so I went upstairs to hide.”

In the background, she could hear the other jocks chanting, “TAKE THE SHOT! TAKE THE SHOT!”

_“WhAT? Ugh damn…’kay, I’ll…I’ll be up jus’ a sec…”_

“Oh, no, it’s fine! Really! I’ll be okay! Keep having fun. I’ll figure something out.”

Kitty got up and pulled the phone from her hand. “Yeah, don’t worry about it, big guy! I’ll look after her!”

“Wait, you will?” Jazz blinked.

 _“M’kay, ‘slong as she’s safe_ ,” he slurred. “ _Be safe, hot stufffff-“_

He hung up.

Kitty giggled. “Oh, wow, he _is_ into you. Aww. Can I come to the wedding?”

Jazz glared at her and put her hands over her cheeks. “Now’s not the time for that! Shut up and help me get rid of the rings, already! I’ll have to _skip_ school if they’re not gone by tomorrow, and if you’ve been overshadowing my classmates for long enough, you _know_ I can’t let that happen!”

The ghost crossed her arms. “That’s a weird way to ask for my help.”

Jazz sighed, her expression relaxing into more of a serious one. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just…I’m _really_ stressed out, okay? I had a fight with my brother, I officially have a _nemesis_ or something and…it’s getting harder and harder to figure out who I can trust. Will you take me to the Ghost Zone so I can fix the more _immediate_ of all my problems? I know how to get to the portal, but I really don’t like the idea of going alone.”

The girl studied her for a moment, though whether that was because she was trying to see if she was lying, or simply deciding her answer, Jazz wasn’t sure.

“…m’kay,” she finally said with a nod. “But hold on, I should change first.”

“Change...?”

With another nod, she fell onto the bed and closed her eyes.

Jazz gasped and took a step back.

“K…Kitty…?” She asked, tentatively leaning forward. When she didn’t react, she poked her arm gently. “Hey, what are you doing? Are you okay…?”

“Oh, she’s fine.”

“AUGH!”

Caught off-guard, Jazz slipped and fell onto her behind. “Aughhh! A-a _ghost_!!!”

“Relax, it’s just me,” the ghost, who’d just floated out of the teenager, replied. “I _did_ say I was gonna change.”

“You’re…y-you’re…” Jazz’s expression paled. She’d known Kitty was a ghost. She knew a _lot_ of people were ghosts at this point. But somehow, that never could have prepared her for actually _seeing_ one in person. She wasn’t a green blob like Skulker or a human-looking half ghost like her brother.

Kitty was unlike anything Jazz could have imagined. She had long green hair, bright red eyes and grey skin that didn’t look too different from her own ghost form’s. However, most startling of all, was that she was surrounded by an unearthly white glow. Did _her_ ghost form have that too? Did Danny’s? She couldn’t recall. She doubted it was as bright as Kitty's, anyway.

Kitty frowned and held a hand out for her. “Hey, are you okay?”

This was a momentous occasion. As far as she knew, Jazz was one of the first human beings _ever_ to see a real used-to-be-alive teen ghost with her own two eyes. It would be a memory she’d never forget. She had to say the _perfect_ thing.

But, as she accepted her hand and stood up, she found her mouth moving on its’ own.

“I really love your clothes.”

 _Dammit_ Jazz.

“Aww, THANKS!” She grinned. “The boots were a present from my boyfriend.”

“You have a boyfriend? Ghosts _have_ those?” She tilted her head.

“Yep! His name’s Johnny. He’s perfect.” She sighed. “But anyway, we should get out of here before Cassidy wakes up.”

“I can’t say I’m on board with you possessing people,” Jazz replied, taking her hand again. It felt a lot colder now, but not in a bad way. As a fire ghost, the cold felt kind of nice, like a cool breeze on a hot day. “But you’re helping me and you seem like a good pers-uh, _ghost,_ so…I'll let it slide for now.”

“Thanks.” She smiled amusedly and, turning them both invisible again, phased them through the floor.

\---

Danny sighed and made his way up the stairs. “Hey…Jazz?” He knocked on her door. 

No response.

He frowned. “I know you’re mad, and I get it, but can’t we just…talk? You’re always saying communication is, like, super important, and…huh?“ 

The door slowly creaked open.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Danny stepped inside. 

She wasn’t in here.

He crossed his arms. That was weird. Dash wasn’t here either. Did he and Jazz go somewhere? His eyes widened. 

“Oh gross, they’d better not be-“

His eyes drifted to the piece of paper on Jazz’s bed. 

A party invite.

He frowned and picked it up.

“I guess I’m crashing a party.” 

\---

“This is where you came in from, right?”

“Yep! I was able to squeeze those doors open from the Ghost Zone. Maybe I’ll be able to do it again.” She flew into it, but stopped when her body was only partway through it. “Nope,” she said, floating back out. “Just a buncha metal. Is there, like, a way to open it?”

“Yeah, I think my dad mentioned something about a switch or a lever or something?” She walked over to the control panel and studied the buttons. Surely _one_ of them had to do the trick? She pushed down the biggest lever.

**Whooshhhh** _!_

Kitty grinned. “YES! Let’s _go_!” 

Jazz didn’t reply. She’d turned towards the portal, but otherwise hadn’t moved. She just…stared at it, watching the familiar swirls of the portal warp and turn, gathering and splitting apart like it was somehow alive and taunting her. It looked _exactly_ like the portals that had-

“Hey, aren’t you coming?” Kitty asked, tilting her head. “Come on, it’s the only thing that’ll stop those rings from showing up. I think.” She shrugged. “I mean whatever, it’s worth a shot.”

“No,” she whispered, her skin already burning as her mind was brought back to that day. The rings around her started hissing louder. “I c-can’t do this...” 

She’d felt so alone, so scared, so _broken_. Maybe she’d always feel that way. She couldn’t know for sure. She was of course curious what was on the other side of that portal, but…the Ghost Zone was where all her freaky ghost powers belonged. It was where her freaky ghost form belonged. It was the _reason_ she was a freak now. It was everything she was _not_ and didn’t _want_ to be. She inhaled shakily.

“Hey…” Kitty floated over to her, concerned. “What’s wrong? Are you nervous?”

“A bit.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “That place is…a _part_ of me now. Whether I like it or not. What if…” She shifted her gaze to the tiled floor beneath her. “What if I… _don’t_ like it? What if it’s _horrible_ in there?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Well, like, do you think _I’m_ horrible?”

“No, you’re…well, your morals are questionable, but…you’re not evil or monstrous. You’re nothing like my parents said you would be.”

“Yeah, and they’re _ghosthunters_ ,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “They don’t know _anything_. I guarantee the Ghost Zone isn’t _nearly_ as bad as they told you it is.”

Jazz finally looked up at her, glassy turquoise meeting bright red, and she exhaled. 

“Okay. I’ll do it. But if you leave me alone while we’re in there, I swear…”

“I won’t, I promise!” She gently took her hand. “Come _on_. It’ll close soon.”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath and marched towards it, her eyes squeezed closed. “Okay, look, so, the thing is, I can’t summon my ghost form on my own, but hopefully that won’t be a problem. I mean, I can’t die in the place _literal_ ghosts are right? I have _ectoplasmic DNA_ or…something. So. Fingers crossed I can’t. You know. Die. Again. Like all the way I mea-“ 

She stiffened, her eyes popping open instinctively. Where’d the ground go? Where’d the…the _building_ go? She was familiar with portals at this point, of course she was, but…the entire _atmosphere_ had warped. The air was thick with dense, but breathable liquid, swirls in every shade of green were floating around her and, most obvious of all…she was _floating_. It felt like she’d just plunged deep underwater, only she could somehow breathe. How could she _breathe_? She looked down at herself. The rings were still there, but they weren’t just burning anymore. They were buzzing with energy, almost as if they were excited. The orange was much brighter now, and the burning sensation Jazz felt whenever her powers were in use was suddenly _intense_. Too intense. It had to burst out. She…she _wanted_ it to burst out. It had been locked away for so long, and this was the only place where unleashing it wouldn’t mean endangering her identity or the lives of the people she cared about. The rings hissed in anticipation, and for once…she decided it would be okay to indulge them. She was so tired of hiding what she was. At least, here, she could be as ghostly as she wanted.

She raised her hands up and closed her eyes, for the first time allowing the fire to surround her form. The flaming rings circled around her, burning brightly, but they didn’t burn, or even feel uncomfortable. They were warm, and Jazz couldn’t shake the feeling that they carried with them a feeling of confidence and positivity, all the things she’d assumed she’d lost the day she’d had her accident.

When she opened her eyes again, she found that she was in her cardio outfit, though with inverted colours. She raised a hand up to touch her hair. It was still in a ponytail like it had been the day of her accident, but it wasn’t made out of flames like she’d first thought. It was whispy and light, like pale blue smoke. Her skin was a blue-grey colour, but it didn’t look too different to Kitty’s skin colour. She’d probably fit right in with her in a place like this.

“Oh. My. _Gosh_!”

Jazz’s orange eyes widened. She’d forgotten Kitty was still here. She looked down at the swirls below them, blushing shyly.

“Um, so…yeah. This is my…ghost form. Does it look bad? Dash says it doesn’t, but I think maybe he’s just being nice…”

Kitty grinned and grabbed her shoulders.

“You. Are. _Gorgeous_ , girl!”

“I-I _am_?” Jazz made a surprised noise.

“YES! Your human look was _okay_ , but your ghost one?” She laughed. “You’re gonna have the guys _lining up_. Though stay away from my Johnny, okay?” She suddenly narrowed her eyes.

Jazz held her hands up defensively. “Yup. Understood.”

“Great!” She grinned again. “Come on! You’ve got a new form! You know what THAT means!”

“A lot of…looking in the mirror…?”

“MAKEOVERS!” She began pulling her in a seemingly random direction. “C’mon c’mon! I was gonna get my nails done anyway, so you should come with! Come get your new hair done! It’ll be _super_ fun!”

“Um, okay!” Jazz laughed a little. Maybe this _could_ be fun?

\---

“Behold—my _favourite_ place in the Ghost Zone!”

Jazz looked around. She’d been dragged through three different sets of purple doors only to be faced with… _more_ purple doors? Well, at least these ones were somewhat organised. The area they were in was as empty, but beautiful, as a lot of the Ghost Zone, but there were far more doors here, all arranged in a spiral pattern. To Jazz’s relief, these doors actually had signs attached to them, making it easier to figure out where it was they lead. She was glad Kitty had come with her because she was sure she’d have gotten curious, and then lost, almost immediately.

“When you described a _ghost mall,_ I somehow expected…I don’t know, an _actual_ building?”

“Oh, the only buildings around here are ghost lairs. You’ll get used to that.” She opened a door to her left. “Here it is! The greatest hair and nail salon in all the Ghost Zone! They’re my favourite.” She floated inside eagerly. “Satch! Cuticle! How’ve you been?”

“Welcome back, Kitty,” a ghost with long, sharp purple nails greeted. Jazz guess she was cuticle. “The usual?”

“Oh, _totes_!” She beamed. “Satch, this is Ja-“

“HI!” Jazz greeted, a little too loudly. “I’m…” She thought quickly. The way she saw it, not _every_ ghost needed to know she was a halfa, so that meant the name ‘Jazz Fenton’ wouldn’t quite cut it here. “…Willow!” she finally said. “Willow…Whisp.” Yay for weird whispy ghost hair.

Kitty raised an eyebrow and smirked. “…right. Willow here wanted to get her hair done. Any chance you can fit her in?”

The ghost she was addressing, a ghost with hair so long it would put even _Rapunzel_ to shame, nodded. “Luckily for you, we just had a cancellation. Sir Toppem misplaced his head again.”

Kitty chuckled, floating over to the nail station. “Oh, that guy. I bet it’ll be with Box Ghost again. He’s such a hoarder.”

“There’s a Box Ghost?” Jazz asked, following Satch to a set of chairs, each one with a helmet-like device floating above it. It was like some kind of odd supernatural hair drying station.

“Damn, I thought _everyone_ knew Boxy. You haven’t been unlucky enough to meet him yet?” a ghost sat on one of the chairs asked. She was wearing the helmet, but it was shaped not unlike a racing driver’s helmet, so Jazz couldn’t see her face that well. However, she could make out a pair of bright green eyes. She seemed to be one of the more humanoid ghosts, like her and Kitty.

“I’m kinda new around here-OOF! Do you MIND?” She looked up as Satch shoved her into one of the chairs.

“I can’t do your hair if you’re standing around talking,” he explained coldly. “Hold still or this will hurt.”

“Oka-wait, _what_?” She made a frightened squeak as Satch shot a ball of teal energy at her head. It pulled her ‘hair’ out of its’ ponytail and held it up so that Satch could separate it into sections and place glowing sticks between them. He wrapped the whisped hair tightly around each stick and then took a step back.

“Sit under the device until I tell you to stop,” he instructed. “The ectoplasm will shape your hair.”

“I didn’t even tell you what I wanted you to _do_ , though…”

“Satch knows what ya want for your hair better than you do yourself,” the humanoid ghost from before explained. “Trust me, he’s great.”

“Um…okay then…?” She slowly lowered the helmet onto her own head. It felt tingly, but otherwise didn’t hurt. “This is weird. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Never?” The ghost asked. “Like never had your hair done, orrrr…?”

“Oh, um, no, I’ve had my hair done, but…I don’t know. I’ve never done things with friends like this. My parents are loons, so I didn’t have the most normal childhood. Few of my peers would _choose_ to stay at my place.”

“Oh, that’s bushwa. I’d join a freakin’ _a cappella_ group if my bud asked me to.” Jazz didn’t have to see it to know the ghost had pulled a disgusted face.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a cappella,” she replied, shrugging. “Not everyone can play an instrument, so it’s interesting seeing what they can do with what little they have.”

“That’s empty music. What you’re describing is empty music. The poor person’s hip hop. It’s like beatboxing, except beatboxers don’t consider themselves _song writers_. ”

Jazz grinned. “You’re a music ghost, aren’t you?”

“Yup. The name’s Ember McClain. Remember my name, baby, ‘cause it’s all you’re gonna hear once I make my debut in the human realm.”

“You’re going to release music _there_? Oh, _fun_!!” She grinned. “I can’t wait to hear it! What kind of music do you play?”

“My style goes beyond typical genres. I’m talkin’ soulful lyrics mixed with a _sick_ rock guitar. It’s gonna be _dope_. What about you? I’m surprised you knew what a cappella is. It’s a bit recent for a lot of ghosts around here.”

“Oh! Um, well, I’m not a music ghost, but I do love music. I’m…I guess I don’t really know what ghost I am? _Fire_ seems to be a theme, at least. I keep setting things on fire by accident when I’m angry or…” She groaned. “Ugh, it was so embarrassing…”

“What was?”

“OOOH, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOUR _QUARTERBACK_?” Kitty yelled from the nail station.

“NO! SHUT _UP_!” 

Her chair caught on fire. 

“ _Hoo_ , bit of a _temper_ , toots?”

“I _DON’T_ HAVE A TEMPER!” She pat the chair down quickly, trying to smother the flames.

“Hey, chill. I’ve got this.” The ghost touched the chair and the orange flames slowly turned electric blue, and then dissipated.

Jazz exhaled. “Oh my god. Wow. How did you do that?”

“Easy. You’re not the _only_ fire ghost, y’know.”

“Y- _you’re_ a fire ghost TOO?!” She sat up, hitting her head on the helmet as she did so. “Ouch, I forgot about that…”

The ghost chuckled. “Yeah, fire is one of my main schticks. You’ll see when my hair is done. You never met another fire ghost before?”

“No, I’m…I’m sort of new at the whole… _ghost_ thing. I’m still trying to get used to all the freaky new powers.” She sighed and shut her eyes. “I had a fight with my brother about it. He was mad at me for something else, so he mocked me for having trouble doing… _basic_ ghost abilities.” She made an angry noise, but Ember dealt with the flames before they could burn the chair much again. Jazz didn’t seem to notice. “But it’s not my _fault_! I’ve been trying my best, but beyond stopping my powers from malfunctioning in front of ghost hunters, trying to pretend I’m normal _and_ staying positive in the face of the _therapist from hell_ , I haven’t had a lot of time!”

“Therapist from hell?” Ember asked amusedly.

Jazz sighed. “I thought she was a normal therapist, but it turns out, she’s a ghost that sucks away at your misery. I should have seen it coming, really. Her name is _literally_ ‘Dr _Spectra’_. I couldn’t even _tell you_ a name that sounds more like it belongs to a ghost. And now she’s got blackmail on me, so I have to see her every week, whether I want to or not.”

“Oof, that’s rough.” The ghost chuckled. “I know Spectra. She gives everyone the creeps. She’s fun at parties, though.”

“Ghosts have parties?” Jazz blinked.

“Wow, you _are_ new! Damn!”

Jazz looked down shyly. “I know. A bit of a sorry excuse for a ghost, aren’t I?”

“Nah, you’re just new at this. Everyone was new to things at _some_ point, or they’d never get _good_. I don’t remember much about my life, but I remember all the songs I used to try to write. It was angsty garbage, but I wouldn’t be writing straight _bangers_ now if it weren’t for them.”

“I suppose that’s true.” She smiled a little.

Kitty floated over eagerly. “Are you still talking about Dash? Did I miss much? Have you confessed your love for him yet?”

Jazz huffed. “Why do you care so much about my love life?”

“So you DO admit there’s something there!” She grinned and wrapped an arm around Jazz’s shoulders. “I KNEW it!”

Jazz scowled, but didn’t shrug her off. Kitty was annoying, but Jazz couldn’t help kind of liking her.

“You’ll get used to that,” Ember commented. “Kitty’s a _huuuuge_ fan of love. Getting her to shut up about her boyfriend is, like, _impossible._ ”

“Oh, hiiiiii Ember! Didn’t see ya there!” She smiled brightly. “Getting your hair lighted again?”

“Hell yeah. I talked Satch into making it _white._ ”

 _“_ Oooh _,_ that’ll look _badass_!!”

“I know, right? I’m pumped!”

“You know each other?” Jazz asked, curiously.

“Oh yeah, me and Ember go waaaaaay back,” Kitty replied. “My cousin is her drummer. Do you play any music, Jazz?”

“No, I-“ Her eyes widened. “I mean, um, wh-who’s Jazz? I’m a _ghost_! D-duh!”

“Oops, sorry. Forgot.” She smiled apologetically. “But it’s okay. Ember’s cool. She won’t tell anyone. She’s one of my best friends.”

“Tell me what?” the ghost in question asked. “Your name’s not Willow? Seems like a weird thing to lie about.”

“No, it’s…” She sighed. “Well I guess if Kitty trusts you, then-”

“She’s like _Plasmius_!” Kitty interjected excitedly.

She stiffened. “I am _not!_ Can you _please_ stop saying that?!”

“But it’s _true_ , thoooough...” she whined, leaned against the back of the chair. She was so dramatic. Jazz could see how she could be an actress.

“I’m the same _species_ as Vlad,” she elaborated. “Part ghost, part human. I’ve got human and ghost DNA. It’s a bit of a mess. I’ve met Vlad and he’s helped me with my powers, but he gives me the creeps. He’s up to something, and after the whole evil therapist thing, I’m like _extra_ suspicious of people that give me the creeps.”

“Evil therapist?” Kitty whispered.

“Spectra,” Ember supplied.

“Ah.” Her eyes widened. “Wait wait _wait_ , Dr Spectra is _that_ Spectra?! I thought that was just a coincidence!” 

“Nope. I called her out on her therapy techniques, and she admitted to all the misery-sucking. I have a _lot_ of misery apparently, so…I think I’m her new favourite victim. _Yay_.” She huffed. “I’m lucky I figured out what was happening when I did. It took _Dash_ of all people to make me realise that what she was doing wasn’t normal. I guess, as smart as you are, you can’t always see what’s directly in front of you.”

The green haired ghost sat herself down in the chair next to Jazz, bouncing on it eagerly. “Ooh, so you’re saying he _saved_ you?”

Jazz rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Not quite, but…he did put some things into perspective for me. He’s a good person and I’m glad I met him. There. Are you happy?”

“It’ll do. For now.” She winked.

“So you’re a halfa?” Ember asked, latching onto the part of the conversation that interested her most. “With two forms and all that?”

“Yeah, but please don’t tell anyone. This is my first time in the Ghost Zone. I don’t know what people will think if they find out. I mean, if the only halfa they’ve met is-wait, _Plasmius_ , you called him?”

The girls nodded.

“Right, well, if _Plasmius_ is the only exposure a lot of people have to half ghosts, I can’t imagine their opinion of them is very… _positive_. I’m trying to keep a low profile.”

“Right. Gotcha.” She pointed at her, which Jazz could only assume was accompanied by a wink based on her tone of voice. 

“The only half ghost that doesn’t suck is my brother, but he’s…” She sighed.

“They had a fight,” Ember explained for Kitty’s benefit. “He’s mad at her, so he gave her crap about not being good enough with her powers, like she hasn’t got other shit to deal with.”

“Aww, hon…” Kitty touched her arm sympathetically.

“It’s fine, I know he’s right, but…I really _have_ been trying. I learnt how to go invisible recently, and I was really proud of it, so when he said that…I don’t know. It felt like he was shoving all the progress I’d made in my face.” She reached her hand up to touch her hair, but her shoulders slumped once she realised she still had the helmet on, and thus, couldn’t.

“What a dipstick,” Ember huffed. “I should break his face.”

“Please don’t do that. It’s fine.” She exhaled. “Anyway! Why are you over here, Cat?”

“Oh, my nails are done.” She smiled brightly and held her hands out. Her nails, which had been the same colour as her skin before, now seemed to be coated in red energy. They glowed with a soft red light.

Jazz gasped. “Oh that’s so _pretty_ …” 

“Isn’t it? I can’t wait to show Johnny.” She giggled.

“I bet he’ll love it! What’s he like?” Honestly, she loved learning about all the different types of ghosts. It turned out that the topic was actually pretty interesting to her. She wondered what kind of ghost _she_ might be.

She suddenly hissed. “Oof, ouch, is this _supposed_ to get hot?”

“Yup. It’ll chill in a sec. You’ve just gotta wait it out,” Ember explained, then shoved Jazz’s arm lightly. “Also, do _not_ ask Kitty about Johnny,” she advised, annoyed. “Have you learnt _nothing_? Or do you _want_ to hear about the same guy over and over again until your head explodes?”

Jazz frowned a little. “But…she’s my friend? If she wants to talk about him, I really don’t mind.” She shrugged. “And besides, I like listening to people. Not everyone has someone they can talk to, so I like being there for people in that way.”

Kitty chuckled, shaking her head. “I’ve never heard of something so disgusting and wholesome _in my unlife._ ”

“She’s a weird one, alright,” Ember agreed, though the annoyance was gone in her voice. “Though…you’re alright, Willow. Naïve and gross, maybe, but…you’re alright. I might even take you up on that.”

“Um, thank you! …I think?” She tilted head as much as she were able to wearing the helmet.

“Alright, you’re done, Miss Whisp,” Satch said, floating over.

“I wonder when mine’ll be done,” Jazz thought out loud.

Ember snorted. “That’s _you_ , Willow.”

“O-oh! Right!” She quickly stood up, promptly hit her head again, and pulled the helmet off. Her hair jiggled due to the force, but otherwise stayed surprisingly tidy.

Satch stared at Jazz seriously, and with one fell swoop, ripped each stick out of her hair.

“HEY! O-!” Her complaints were cut short as she felt her cloud-like strands of hair, now curly, fall down her shoulders. She gasped softly. Had her ghost hair _always_ had that pretty fade to white? And it was so _soft_. “Wow…” she whispered, awed. “I…” She looked up at Kitty. “I think my ghost form… _is_ pretty.”

“Told ya.” She grinned, wrapping an arm around her. “You’re _so_ hot, girl!”

Jazz grinned back.

“Alright, your turn, McClain,” Satch said, suddenly reminding everyone of his presence.

“Sweet!” She stood up and pulled her own helmet off. Flames immediately burst from it, and at first, Jazz was concerned that she or Ember had accidentally set the thing on fire. It took Jazz a minute to realise that, no, it was actually _attached_ to the ghost’s head.

“You have FIRE HAIR?!” Jazz stared. “Oh, I don’t use that word a lot, but that IS badass!!!”

She grinned. “You know it. Here, lemme show ya a cool trick! Say my name, baby!”

“Ember McClain! Ember McClain!” The half ghost chanted excitedly.

“ _YES_!” The ghost stretched and the flames grew bigger and stronger. “THAT’S the stuff!”

“When humans say her name, she gets stronger,” Kitty whispered.

“Wow, if you debut in the human realm, you could get _really_ powerful,” Jazz mused.

“Ya got _that_ right.” She chuckled. “Anyhow, let’s keep this train rollin’! You two feel like shoppin’? I could do with a new choker.”

“Shopping? As in… _clothes_?” Jazz gasped softly, momentarily distracted from her current thought process. She turned to Kitty pleadingly. “These are _workout_ clothes, Cat. They can _not_ be Willow’s thing. Ember has boots with _skulls_ on them. We can _not_ go back to Amity yet.”

Kitty laughed. “Say no more! Let’s _goooooo_ , ladies!”

\---

It didn’t take long for Danny to find the house the party took place in. He’d been patrolling Amity Park ever since he’d decided he wanted to be a superhero, so he knew the layout of this town better than he knew his own house at this point. He knocked on the door.

No answer.

But it was open, and he could hear party music. Was it really breaking and entering if it was a party and there was no breaking necessary? He stared at the door for a moment, weighing the decision out in his mind. He _had_ to do this. His sister’s safety was at stake! What if something happened to her? Jazz was smart, but she wasn’t always rational when she was upset. She could be hurt, or worse, she could be _making out_ with…

Yup. He was going inside.

He forced his way through the crowd of partygoers, successfully bumping into a table as he did so, as well as probably stepping on a lot of feet. These were all sixteen-seventeen year olds, so it was hard for the fourteen year old, who was already a little small for his age, not to get squished in between all the drunk teenagers. Speaking of which…

“YOOOOOOOO! DOOO IT DOOOOOOO ITTTTTT!!!”

 _There_ was that bastard. He looked around. 

“No sign of Jazz…” he muttered. 

Had Dash seriously ditched his sister?! What an asshole! What kind of person ditched their friend at a party so they could go get drunk with their buddies? He growled, feeling his eyes flash green for a moment.

“ **HEY**! **DASH**!” He marched up to the large swaying quarterback, no fear in his eyes at all, and grabbed the front of his shirt. “WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY SISTER?!”

“Fen…turd…?” He blinked a few times, maybe to clear his vision and his eyes widened. “Oh SHIT! Shez not…back yet? Ilooked all da…da plazez…” He frowned, but his eyes were unfocussed. “Y’got finder man…poor princess...” He sighed sadly. “She lef’ an’ I was like noooooo bu’ she say…she sez…”

“What did she say?” He demanded, his voice a little less loud now. The guy did look genuinely upset. Dash was a jerk, but he supposed he couldn’t _really_ say he didn’t care about Jazz. At least a little. The princess thing was _gross_ , though.

“P…promis you find…’er…” he mumbled, resuming his drowsy blinking. “Couldn’t…protecc her…” He made a sad noise. “Why I gotta…hurt th’ princess? Don’t wanna…hurt no more…”

Danny’s expression softened a little. “Wow. Where was _this_ when you hung me up on the flagpole last month?” He shook his head. “Somehow, I don’t think you’re gonna be much help with this…”

“ _DANNY?!”_

He gasped and instinctively let go of the jock. He knew that shrill shout anywhere. “JAZZ! You’re OKAY! You’re—” He turned around to face her and blinked. “You’re mad. Why are you mad.”

“Oh, she’s gotta _lotta_ reasons to be mad.”

A whisp of cold air shot out of Danny’s mouth as two ghosts stepped towards him, either side of his sister. The one that had spoken had hair made of literal flames and boots decorated like skulls, while the other had bright green hair and fishnet tights.

Fortunately, most people were too drunk or distracted to realise the two of them weren’t just in costumes.

Danny stiffened. 

“Jazz, don’t look now,” he whispered urgently. “But those are… _ghosts_.”

“Oh, I know,” she replied, crossing her arms. “They’re my friends. But more importantly, were you _threatening_ Dash?!”

“I thought he hurt you! I was—I’m sorry, can we go back? They’re your… _what_?” He scoffed.

“That’s it. I’m separating his head from his shoulders.”

Jazz’s eyes widened. “No, Ember! _Don’t_!”

The ghost huffed and put her guitar away. 

“They’re my friends,” Jazz said again. “And they’re good people. Do _not_ attack them.” She took a step forward. “Scott, are you okay?”

“Yyyyyyyupppppp!” The jock held a lopsided thumbs up and grinned giddily. “Knew yud be ‘kay…sssssmart cheerleader…”

Jazz rolled her eyes fondly and turned her attention back to her brother, her expression steeling.

“Why can’t you just leave me _alone_? What I do is _none_ of your business, _not even_ if it involves ghosts.” Her eyes narrowed. “Actually, _especially_ if it involves ghosts.”

Danny took a step back. His sister… _really_ didn’t trust him anymore, did she? She’d only just started trusting him again after their late night heart-to-heart and…he’d ruined it. He had to make this right. Somehow. He couldn’t lose his sister, especially not to _ghosts_. They’d done enough to tear his family apart already.

“Like, what are you even _doing_ here?” The green haired ghost demanded, putting her hands on her hips. “I _know_ I didn’t invite you, so are ya just here for _round two_ of making Jazz feel like _garbage_?”

“Wh-what?” He stared at the ghost for a moment and then frowned. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but can you back o-“

**ZZZZZZZZZZAPPPPPPP!!!**

The lights shut off.

Danny gasped, feeling the familiar chill in his throat. Jazz gasped too, feeling her body temperature spike. She put a hand to her neck. It was sweat, like she’d suspected. This usually happened a lot around Spectra.

“It’s a ghost,” they both said at the same time.

“…Wait, you can sense ghosts too?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” Jazz waved a hand in front of her face. She could see it, but only because of the faint blue glow of Ember’s ponytail. “Hold on, everyone. If this is a threat, we need more light.” 

She held her hands up and exhaled, letting the flaming rings begin to envelope her body. She panted. This was so much harder in the human realm, but she had to try. She focussed on the burning feeling within her and squeezed her eyes shut as she forced it to flow through her. After a minute, she felt the power relax and her wispy ponytail brush against her neck.

“Woah…” Danny whispered, staring. She looked so _ghostly._ His ghost form didn’t look too much different from himself, and Vlad's looked completely different from himself, but Jazz...her form was like a mix of the two. It looked a little like her and gave him Jazz _vibes,_ but she definitely looked like a ghost. “You look really _..._ is your hair made out of _steam_?!”

“It’s more like mist _,”_ she explained, opening her, now bright orange, eyes. With another deep breath, she held up her hand and shot a fireball at the ceiling. It dissipated like the one from earlier, but it had been enough to illuminate the cause of the blackout.

The karaoke machine and TV that the teenagers had set up in Kitty’s absence had started glowing green.

“Ugh, it’s _Technus_ ,” Ember complained, rolling her eyes. “He’s annoying.”

“Tetnus…?” Jazz pulled a face.

“Oh, I think she said it more like ‘Tech-nus’? Like technology?” Danny guessed.

“ _Bingo_ , dipstick.”

“He’s literally _soooooo_ boring,” Kitty supplied. “He likes to use cringe outdated slang and monologue about everything he does. He’s the worst. A _total_ attention whore.”

Danny grinned and punched his hand into his fist. “Don’t worry, _I’ll_ give him some attention. There’s a new power I’ve been practicing that I wanna try.”

“…You know what?” Jazz suddenly said. “I’ve got it. I’ve been practicing too.”

“What? Jazz, _no_!” His eyes widened. “You don’t have _any_ fighting experience! You’ll get hurt! Proving me wrong isn’t worth it!”

She looked into his eyes, her gaze intense. Despite all the orange, Danny recognised this expression well. She had something to prove, and when Jazz decided she had to prove something, nothing and nobody could change her mind. He wasn’t sure if he admired her unbreakable determination or was terrified of it.

“I have to do this,” she said gravely. “You’ve been a half ghost for longer than me and you have a handle on your powers. I don’t. I get that. But I _am_ a capable half ghost, no matter _what_ you say, and I’d rather try this and fail than not try and never know if I could have succeeded.” She floated up to get a better view of the living room. She’d gotten pretty used to floating when she was in the Ghost Zone. 

**_ZZZZAPPPPPP_ ** _!_

The technology suddenly jolted back to life, now glowing with an even brighter green hue. The partygoers that weren’t passed out shrieked as a ghost in a tattered lab coat emerged from the television and, understandably, made a hasty run for the nearest exit.

The ghost either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“ _GREETINGS_ , CHILDREN OF VARYING AGES! I AM **TECHNUS**! **MASTER** OF **TECHNOLOGY!”**

“NOBODY _CARES_ , DIPSTICK!” Ember yelled back, strumming a chord on her guitar. A purple wave of energy shot out of the instrument and rammed into the ghost, knocking him against the wall.

Kitty floated up to join Willow and Ember. “I’ve wanted to punch this loser for centuries. Let’s send him back to the G.Z with _bruises_!”

Danny looked up at his sister and, for a moment, the two shared eye contact again.

Did she really think he’d be comfortable letting her take on a _ghost_? He wasn’t about to let her get hurt on his watch, _especially_ not because of some stupid need to prove herself. He frowned at her and, not breaking eye contact, let the familiar white rings swoop around his form and transform him. He’d hoped this would communicate to her that he had her back, but, based on how she was now glaring at him, it apparently had the opposite effect.

Her eyes narrowed, she turned back to her friends.

“Yeah, let’s get him,” she agreed. “I’m not that strong on my own, but I think we can stop him if he work together.” She turned her attention back to Technus. “He’s a technology ghost, right? Cat, can you destroy the TV? It seems to be his main power source. It’s what’s glowing brightest.”

“On it!” She charged up some pink ectoplasmic energy blasts and fired them.

Technus hissed, cutting himself off mid-monologue.

“THAT IS SO **RUDE!** DON’T YOU KNOW IT’S **BAD MANNERS** TO IGNORE PEOPLE WHEN THEY’RE **MONOLOGUING?** ”

He held up his hands, not unlike Jazz had done earlier, and they began to glow green. 

“Oh no, what’s he doing?” The female halfa whispered, balling her hands into flaming fists in preparation.

The glowing devices suddenly began to move, or rather…come to life. They cackled evilly as they each began to grow fangs and glowing red eyes.

“Alright, _that’s it_!” Danny loaded up his hands with ectoplasm. “Let me-“

“Ember!” Jazz fired a blast at the sentient ceiling fan floating ominously towards her, promptly smashing it. “Can you produce that soundwave again? Maybe if it can disrupt the electromagnetic frequencies for a few minutes, it’ll be harder for him to control the devices!”

“Oh ho, _smart_!” She struck a different chord at the karaoke machine, and sure enough, it froze in its’ approach, apparently stuck in a mid-attack pose. 

Jazz clapped her hands together. Okay! Now what could she do? She brought her attention back to the ghost, who was currently stressing out as he tried to regain control of his self-made monsters. 

“I…I am Technus, master of…I’m the master of…” He mumbled to himself making his hands glow again.

Jazz frowned thoughtfully. The ghost wasn’t acting all that aggressive, not even after they fought back. She wasn’t too familiar with normal ghost behaviour, of course, but it really didn’t seem like the ghost was that angry. The shouting felt very…scripted. Like they were lines he’d memorised specifically for this attack. If anything, he seemed angrier they’d cut him off mid-monologue. On a whim, she decided to float over to him.

“Hey… _Technus_ , was it?” She smiled. “I’m Willow Wisp. Can we talk?”

The ghost stared at her for a moment, apparently caught off guard. “Um…hello.” He cleared his throat. “HELLO! I AM **TECHNUS**! MASTER OF ALL THINGS **TECHNOLOGICAL** AND **BEEPING!** ”

“It’s nice to officially meet you!” She smiled sunnily. “Is everything okay? You seem stressed.”

“JAZZ!” Danny quickly floated up. “WHAT are you _DOING_?!”

Jazz ignored him. 

“Oh Clockwork, like, leave her _alone_ , ghost kid!” Ember yelled, blasting him with a soundwave. It wasn’t a strong wave, but it was enough force to shove him to the other side of the room.

“Yeah, chill, she knows what she’s doing,” Kitty reassured, smashing a hole into the TV screen. “This is _Jazz_ we’re talking about. She’s, like, _Miss Perfect_.”

“But he’ll HURT her!” Danny persisted, patting himself down. Ember’s attack had hit him square in the chest, but it was weak, so thankfully, it had only winded him a bit. “She’s not USED to fighting ghosts! She’s…she’s—” 

He looked up at his sister and the words caught in his mouth. He couldn’t hear what they were saying anymore, since Technus had stopped shouting, but now Jazz was sat crossed legged in the air. They seemed to be having…a _conversation_?

For the next five minutes, Danny, in between fighting off more technology, watched this conversation take place. To say he was confused was an understatement. Technus hadn’t attacked her _once_ since she’d gone over to him. Did she have a ghost power she hadn’t told him about? Or was this just Jazz being… _Jazz_?

“Remember, you can talk to me _any_ time, okay?” She finally said. “My door’s always open.”

He smiled at her and for the first time, his expression looked…happy. 

“Thank you, child. I needed that.” He pat the top of her head. “Come see me next time you’re in the Ghost Zone! I can show you the new HIP and FUNKY FRESH computer I’m working on!”

“I’ll look forward to it!” She grinned and waved as he phased through the wall, presumably to fly away.

All the technology in the room promptly stopped glowing and returned to normal, albeit now very smashed. 

Danny stared at his sister.

“Okay. Jazz. What the _heck_.”

“Therapy works.” She shrugged a little, floating down to him. “Today, I learnt that ghosts don’t really have a way to talk about their issues. At least, not in the way that humans do. It’s possible that’s a contributor to why they can be aggressive.”

“You’re… _literally_ a ghost therapist.” He laughed a little. “Only _you_ would use _psychology_ to win a fight. You’re so weird.” His smile wobbled a little. “Um…you know I wasn’t _really_ here to make you feel bad, right? I’ve been lookin’ for ya ‘cause I kinda…” He rubbed his neck. “...’cause I wanted to apologise. I know what I said wasn’t cool. I didn’t really mean it. I _know_ you’re an awesome half ghost. You’re picking things up _way_ quicker than I did. I just…” He crossed his arms and looked down, mostly to avoid looking at her. “I wish you’d asked me before you told Dash. I don’t…trust him. I know you do and that’s great, but…it wasn’t really your secret to tell, Jazz.”

Jazz sighed and placed a hand on the top of his head. “Danny, you’re smarter and more observant than most people realise, but…”

He looked up at her. She only ever touched his hair when she was being affectionate. She wasn’t mad anymore?

“…you can be so _stupid_ sometimes,” she finished, smiling a little.

He pouted. Okay, she was still a little mad.

“Okay, I guess I deserved that. But…why?”

She shook her head. “I _didn’t_ tell Dash your secret. I was talking to him about the accident and he decided _on his own_ that apologising was what he needed to do. Therapy is magic, Danny.”

“What? But…but I don’t understand.” He frowned. “If you didn’t tell him, then why didn’t you just _tell_ me?”

“Because you were accusing me of doing what _you_ did! It made me _mad!_ ” She crossed her arms, frowning again. “I know _you_ trust Sam and Tucker, but _I_ don’t! You didn’t even ask me if it would be okay! But even worse than that…” She sighed and gestured to her outfit. “I didn’t die in _all_ of this, you know. My new friends took me shopping.”

Danny studied her ghost form’s clothes closer. She was wearing what looked like her workout outfit, but on top of that was a clear jacket made of translucent blue material. In her ponytail was a black ribbon and around her neck was a black and red choker, both probably chosen for her by one or both of her friends. Jazz didn’t typically wear that much black by choice. It looked good on her, though.

“You look…cool! I think! I don’t know, I wear the same t-shirt, like, every day. My ghost outfit is just a hazmat suit.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not asking you for fashion advice.”

“Oh thank god.”

She smiled a little and shook her head. “I love my new ghost clothes. I love my new friends. But…you’ve seen my ghost form.” Her smile fell and she gestured to herself again. “You have to admit I look… _different_. I couldn’t accept that my ghost form was really a part of me, and I still kind of don’t, so when you told your friends what I am, it…it felt the same as you telling them I turned into a freak overnight.”

“But…but you’re _not_!” He exclaimed, floating closer. “I wasn’t tryna _shame_ you or something! I swear! I just figured, since they know _I’m_ a half ghost, they could help you! I know they helped me a lot when my accident happened, so-” 

She rubbed her eyes and exhaled stressfully. “I don’t _want_ people to know I’m a half ghost, Danny! Why don’t you _get_ that? I know you’re a halfa too and you know what being one is like, but our experiences, our ways of coping with it, were clearly not the same. You’re not ashamed of it. _I_ am.” She touched her choker lightly with a finger. “It’s been…hard. Finally getting to choose some of how my ghost form looked today did a lot to help me love that side of me, but I’ve still got a long way to go.”

Unable to hold back anymore, Danny finally closed the gap between them by pulling her into a tight hug. 

“I’m really sorry, Jazz,” he said, his voice softer than before. “I knew you were freaked out by all this stuff, but I told them anyway. And then I made you feel bad about your powers. I’ve been a bit of a lousy brother lately…”

“A bit,” she teased, finally hugging him back. “Thank you for understanding. It means a lot.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled a little. “You’ve had my back literally my whole life. I’ll try harder to have yours.” He huffed. “Stop being mad now. I hate it when you’re mad. And it’s, like, _extra_ sucky now because now you shoot _fire_.”

She smirked, letting go of him. “We should spar one day. Attacking you when you’re being annoying is almost therapeutic.”

He crossed his arms and straightened up. “I take it all back. You suck and I’m never talking to you ever again.”

She laughed and ruffled his hair. “I love you too, little brother.”

“YO!” Ember flew up to them. “Ya got Technus to LEAVE? That was WILD! What did you _say_ to him?”

“I just…talked to him, really.” She shrugged. “He wasn’t evil. He just wanted someone to talk to.” 

“She’s essentially a ghost therapist now,” Danny replied, his expression a mixture of amusement and pride. “Typical Jazz.”

Jazz chuckled. “Oh, hey, now that no-one’s in danger, I should introduce you to my friends!” She clapped her hands together excitedly. “Danny, this is Ember McClain. She’s a rock star with the soul of a poet. She’s a fire ghost! Like me!”

Ember smirked and held up a hand. Jazz gasped and enthusiastically high-fived it. Tiny sparks flew from their hands as they made impact.

“She loves doing that for some reason,” Ember commented amusedly.

“She’s just so _cool!”_ she whispered, grinning.

Danny looked the ghost up and down. She wasn’t Jazz’s usual company, that was for sure.

“What is a _rock star_ doing hanging out with my sister?” he asked, tilting his head.

“ _Watch it_ , dipstick,” Ember snapped, twisting a few of the dials on her guitar. “Forget how great she is again and I’ll be _happy_ to remind you.”

Danny gulped. 

Jazz laughed weakly. “Em, please don’t injure or kill my brother. Please.”

“Fine.” She huffed. 

Kitty cleared her throat.

“Ah!” Jazz brightened up again and wrapped an arm around the green haired ghost. “Danny! This is Copycat, my first ghost friend! She’s way too invested in my love life, but she gives great hugs.”

“Just call me Kitty. Everyone else does.” She smirked. “Well everyone except _this_ weirdo.”

“Hey, I _like_ your name!” She grinned. “Why does everyone with great names insist on being called shorter names?”

“Oh, I don’t know… _Jazz_ ,” Kitty teased.

“Hey, that’s different!” She pouted.

“Literally _how_ is it, Jasmine?”

The halfa snorted and gave her a friendly shove. “Oh my god you sound like _Vlad_!”

Kitty gasped and pulled a face. “Oh no! I’m becoming what I _hate_!”

Ember smirked at Jazz and played an ominous tune on her guitar.

“Come to the dark side, Kit,” she said, her voice low, like someone telling a spooky story. “Come for the great music-“

“-and stay because we broke your legs and now you can’t leave!” Jazz added.

The three of them burst out laughing.

Danny found himself smiling. He hadn’t seen Jazz this happy in ages. He wasn’t the biggest fan of ghosts, not even _these_ ghosts, really, but maybe Jazz hanging out with them would be good for her. It could do her good to hang out with other girls for a change, even if they _were_ dead. He still preferred them to Dash.

Grinning, Kitty pulled Jazz into a tight hug. “We, like, _have_ to go shopping again next week. I still haven’t shown you the best parts of the Zone!”

“Yeah, and I wanna show you the song I’ve been workin’ on!” Ember grinned. “You’re gonna love it. And if you don’t, I’ll assume you’ve got bad taste.” 

“Oh, you’re on! I’m sure I’ll really…reallyyyy…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes fell closed.

“Really what?” Ember tilted her head.

“Hey, you okay?” Kitty asked, squeezing her arm.

Jazz’s only response was a soft exhale as the flaming rings swooped over her form, transformimg her back into her human form. She leaned heavily against her friend.

“Woah, is she okay?” Ember asked, waving a hand in front of Jazz’s face. She was out cold.

Danny poked her cheek. She didn’t stir. 

“It’s probably ‘cause she’s been transformed a long time,” Danny guessed, touching her forehead. “Same thing happened to me after I fought Lunch Lady.” He looked up at the ghost he was less scared of. “You’re… _Kitty_ , right? Can I trust you?”

“Probably not,” she answered honestly, shifting to pick Jazz up. “I don’t really like you.”

“…okay, fair. But can I trust you to take Jazz home while I get Dash somewhere safe?” He gestured to the quarterback, who was passed out on the floor. “She’ll kill me if I ditch him here.”

“Right, _that_ I can do.”

He nodded and floated back down to the floor so he could see to Dash.

“Hey, wake up, idiot,” he said, poking Dash in the face.

The bigger boy groaned. “Fen…tonio?” He squinted painfully. “Did’ja find…?”

“The princess in another castle.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :D I've been excited for everyone to meet Jazz's ghostly friend group for ages xD I hope you like them! Comments are greatly appreciated! I read all of them ^_^


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